


Kylara's Origins (A Dragon Age PT retelling... with my own little twists!)

by JCHB322



Series: Kylara's Story [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Adaptation, Adventure, Alienages (Dragon Age), Alliances, Angst and Feels, Archdemons (Dragon Age), Art, Betrayal, Budding Love, Chant of Light, City Elves, Cults, Dalish Elven Culture and Customs, Dalish Elves, Dark Ritual, Darkspawn, Deep Roads, Denerim, Dragons, Drama & Romance, Dwarf Culture & Customs, Dwarves, Epilogue, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Humor, Grey Wardens, Magic, Major Battle, Mild Language, Non-Canon Storytelling, Politics, Post-Dragon Age: Origins, Satinalia, Screenshots, Sexy Times, Travel, Various Questing, Werewolves, implied threesome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2019-05-06 01:33:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 321,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14631294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JCHB322/pseuds/JCHB322
Summary: Welcome to my first FanFic! This is my personal take on one of my Dragon Age: Origins characters, Kylara, Human Mage, and her adventures as a Grey Warden in the land of Ferelden. There is in-game dialogue used, especially in the beginning, but past Chapter 3 things start branching off from the original game. A few changes I have made: my character already knows Wynne, as she was Kylara’s former teacher in the Circle Tower. I also gave a name to the small lake east of Lake Calenhad - I am calling it Lake Caeron. Another change is that I moved the Golem Shale from Honnleath to a town of my own creation in the mountains northwest of Rainesfere. Since fast travel is available in the game, but not in the story, I had to make it more plausible to be able to recruit Shale without having to travel days south, away from all other points in the game. I also used horses and carriages where I thought they would fit into the lore. Mage spells, when written out, are in Scottish Gaelic (long spells already translated) Some characters have had some personality tweaks… A lot of things will not be canon, but I hope you will like it all the same. There is Mature Content. NOW FEATURING ART (and screenshots)! ^_^





	1. Ostagar and The Wilds

**Author's Note:**

> Comments (and kudos, if you like my story... and I really hope you do!) would be appreciated!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylara arrives with Duncan to Ostagar, where she meets the Junior Warden, Alistair, and the other new recruits. What awaits the former Circle Mage and will she be a good Grey Warden?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art of Chibi Kylara meeting Chibi Alistair by super-kawaii Angels767! Thanks!! (https://angels767.tumblr.com/)

I wandered around the old Ostagar ruins taking in all the hustle and bustle as the troops all readied themselves for the upcoming darkspawn battle. Elves were running to and fro, delivering messages. Mages, like myself, practicing their arts under the stern watchful eyes of the Templars. I shuddered. Seems like I would never be truly free of their suspicion, even if I was to become a Grey Warden. I had never been happy about it, but had never even considered leaving the Circle like my former friend Jowan. I quickly pushed him out of my mind. Apostate. Blood Mage. Maleficar. I would think of him no further. I spotted my old mentor Wynne beneath a nearby tree, and I quickly walked up to her.

“Well, a pleasure to see you again, Kylara. I had heard from Irving that one of our recently graduated Mages was recruited into the Grey Wardens. You must be very proud.”

“To be honest, Wynne, it was all very sudden.” I murmured.

“Yes, I had heard of how you assisted Irving and Greagoir to try and capture young Jowan. Pity that he got away and his phylactery destroyed. Hopefully, he can somehow be found before he causes any more harm,” she replied. “And what of the young Chantry girl he was involved with?”

“Lily? I don’t know.” I sighed. “Greagoir took her into custody.”

“Ah, I see.”

“So,” I said quickly, eager to change the subject, “Will you be fighting on the front tonight?”

“Me?” she chuckled. “Hardly. My specialty is healing, as I am sure you remember.” She smiled, “Not your best subject if I recall.” I blushed. Healing had been some of the toughest of my studies in the Tower. Wynne had been a very strict teacher.

“No,” I said, and gave a half smile. “You were an excellent instructor, but it just wasn’t my forte, I guess.”

“That is perfectly fine. Some of us are meant to heal, others to bend the elements to their will.” She smiled at me again. “You are a fighter, Kylara. I expect you to do great things in your future.”

“Thank you, Wynne.” I glanced around. “I suppose I should head out. I need to find someone named Alistair. Duncan told me he is the junior Grey Warden here. Hopefully, he can tell me a little about this Joining that I am supposed to be undergoing.”

“Alistair? Yes, I believe I saw him head up that ramp over there.” She pointed to her right.

“Thank you again, Wynne. It was good to see you. Maker watch over you.”

Her soft smile faded from her face. “Yes, May He watch over all of us tonight.”

 

I headed up the ramp that Wynne had indicated. I heard a conversation, so I stopped short of the pair who were talking. A short man with mage robes was talking to a taller man with medium blond hair in chainmail.

“What now?” he complained. “Haven’t the Grey Wardens asked more than enough of the Circle?”

The blond man answered quickly, “I simply came to deliver a message from the Revered Mother, ser mage. She desires your presence.”

The mage fumed. “What her Reverence ‘desires’ is of no concern of mine! I am already busy helping you lot – by the King’s orders, I might add!”

“Should I have asked her to write a note?” the blond man smiled wryly.

The mage was one step from having steam come from his ears. “Tell her I will **not** be harassed in this manner!”

“Yes,” the other man smirked.” I was harassing **you** by delivering a message.”

The mage frowned. “Your glibness does you no credit.”

“Here I thought we were getting along so well.” Blond sighed, but then smiled again. “I was even going to name one of my children after you... the grumpy one.”

The mage turned an odd shade between red and purple. “Enough!” he spat. “I will speak to the woman if I must. Get out of my way, fool!” Then he stormed off.

I slowly approached the tall blond man.

“You know,” he smiled again. A very nice smile, I had to admit to myself. “One good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together.”

Now I frowned in confusion. “You are a very strange man.”

He continued that amazing grin. “You’re not the first woman to tell me that.” He chuckled. “Wait, we haven’t met, have we? I don’t suppose you happen to be another mage?”

Now I smiled coyly. “Would that make your day worse?”

“Hardly. I just like to know my chances of being turned into a toad at any given moment.” He paused for a moment. “Wait, I do know who you are. You’re Duncan’s new recruit... and you are a mage. Recently graduated from the Circle, right? I should have recognized you right away. I apologize.”

I reached out and shook his hand. “It’s all right. No offense taken.”

“Well, welcome to the Grey Wardens. Duncan sent word. He spoke quite highly of you.” He grinned again. “Allow me to introduce myself: I’m Alistair, though I guess you had already figured that out.” He turned serious for a moment. “As the junior member of the order, I'll be accompanying you when you prepare for the Joining tonight.”

“Pleased to meet you. My name is Kylara.”

“Kylara? A beautiful name. You know... it just occurred to me that there have never been many women in the Grey Wardens. I wonder why that is?”

“I can handle myself better than most,” I said with a smile of my own.

“I’m getting that impression.” He glanced around quickly, and then added, “So, I'm curious: Have you ever actually come across darkspawn before?”

“Have you?” I countered.

“Yes. When I fought my first one, I wasn’t prepared for how monstrous it was. I can’t say I’m looking forward to facing more. But if Duncan is right, and this is a Blight...” He sighed quickly. “You’d think after being in the Wardens for six months, I’d have gotten used to it by now.”

“That argument I saw if you don’t mind my asking... What was it about?”

“With the mage? Well, the Circle is here at the King’s request, and the Chantry doesn’t like that one bit. They just love letting mages know how unwelcome they are.”

“Yes, I am acutely aware of that,” I replied dryly.

“Well, you see, that puts me in a rather awkward position.” He coughed gently into his fist. “I was once a Templar...” he trailed off.

I must’ve looked a bit shocked as I replied, “You were a mage-hunter?”

Alistair looked a tinge embarrassed. “Well, I never actually completed my training. Duncan recruited me just before I was to take my vows. He saw I wasn't happy, and figured my training against mages could double for fighting darkspawn. However, The Grand Cleric didn’t want to let me go! Duncan had to conscript me, and was she ever furious! But now, here I stand a proud Grey Warden. I'll always be grateful to him.” He cleared his throat gently. “Anyways, I am sure the Revered Mother meant it as an insult – sending me as her messenger – and the mage picked right up on that.” He sighed. “I would never have agreed to deliver it, but Duncan says we’re all to cooperate and get along. Apparently, they didn’t get the same speech.”

I put a hand gently on his arm. “Well, I look forward to traveling with you.”

“You do?” The smile came right back to his face. “Huh, that’s a switch.”

 

I listened quietly as Duncan explained to me and the other two recruits about our upcoming task. Daveth was a rogue and a former cut-purse. He was a bit rough around the edges but likable enough. Ser Jory was a knight originally from Redcliffe and quite the complainer. I tuned him out for the most part. “So, any questions about what you need to do in the Wilds?” Duncan asked patiently.

I shook my head. The task seemed simple enough. Venture into the Korcari Wilds and retrieve some old Grey Warden documents... and retrieve three vials of darkspawn blood. The second part of the task I wasn’t looking as forward to, but I was still willing to do what had to be done. I noticed Alistair glancing in my direction and giving me a small smile. He was to lead us. Duncan had warned us that he wanted no heroics from any of us new recruits.

Before we left, I had spoken briefly to the kennel master who had been treating the Mabari war dogs which had been poisoned by darkspawn blood. He explained that these dogs were very smart and valuable in the battle against the Blight. He told me that if I happened to find a particular flower in the Wilds, it might help cure the sick dogs. I told him if I spotted it, I would get him one.

 

An hour later, after slogging through the very humid and chilly Wilds, I really hoped we were getting closer to the old Grey Warden ruins. I was covered in mud, slimy water, blood, and looked a total wreck. Alistair was the leader, but I had observed during the journey that aside from letting us know when the darkspawn were close, he had let me take the lead. I also noticed that when darkspawn were near, Alistair’s eyes flashed a brilliant golden color. I wondered if all Grey Warden’s eyes did that, or if it was just Alistair’s. I had burnt, frozen and electrocuted many darkspawn in our journey into the Wilds, and we had our vials of blood, but still had to find to Grey Warden documents.

“I am sure the ruins are around here somewhere...” Alistair muttered. He glanced to the left. “There!” he shouted. “I see one of the towers!” He pointed in their direction, then quickly frowned, as his eyes glowed golden again. “We’ve got company there as well. More darkspawn!”

I heard Ser Jory groan. Daveth unsheathed his bow, and I readied my staff. Fortunately, the battle was a short one. I began to wonder if the darkspawn were really as big a threat as Duncan seemed to believe.

We headed up the hill to the ruins. I saw a chest in the distance... but something looked off about it. Alistair, Jory, Daveth and I quickly ran up to it. The chest had been smashed open – the documents were gone.

“No,” Alistair said slowly. “There was a seal. They should still be here!”

A sudden noise made me glance up. A woman had appeared seemingly out of nowhere and was walking down a nearby ramp of the ruins. She was... oddly dressed. Strips and scraps of leather and fabric barely covered her breasts. Beads, shells, rocks, and some gold made up an interesting neck piece. Iridescent feathers adorned a shoulder-piece of a long leather glove on her right arm and tight leather pants covered her legs. I was suddenly rather envious. Her outfit – if you could call it one – looked strange, but far more comfortable than my soaked and muddy robes. I noticed the staff on her. A mage... but not of the Circle.

She clucked her tongue, and in a silky voice asked, “Well, well. What have we here?” She glanced at the four of us in turn. “Are you vultures, I wonder? Scavengers poking amidst a corpse whose bones were long since picked clean?” She continued her slow and sultry walk towards us and continued. “Or merely an intruder, come into these darkspawn-filled Wilds on mine in search of easy prey?” Her cat-like eyes narrowed as she glared at us. “What say you, hmmm? Scavenger or intruder?”

Not one of my companions volunteered anything, so I stepped forward. “I am neither. The Grey Wardens once owned this tower.”

She smirked. “’Tis a tower no longer. The Wilds have obviously claimed this desiccated corpse.” She continued walking closer to us. “I have watched your progress for some time. ‘Where do they go,’ I wondered, ‘Why are they here?’” She walked past us and towards the broken chest. “And now you disturb ashes that none have touched for so long. Why is that?”

Alistair came up behind me and murmured, “Don’t answer her. She looks Chasind, and that means others may be nearby.”

The strange woman snorted with derision. “You fear barbarians will swoop down upon you?”

“Yes,” Alistair replied with his own mocking tone. “Swooping is bad.”

Daveth suddenly exclaimed, “She’s a Witch of the Wilds, she is! She’ll turn us into toads!

The woman smirked again, hands on her hips. “Witch of the Wilds? Such idle fancies, those legends. Have you no minds of your own?” She looked directly at me. “You there, mage. Women do not frighten like little boys. Tell me your name and I shall tell you mine. Let us be civilized.”

Ignoring the frantic head-shaking that Alistair was trying to give me, I replied, “I am Kylara. A pleasure to meet you.”

“Now that is a proper civil greeting, even out here in the Wilds.” She glared at Alistair, who was now looking the ground at his feet studiously. “You may call me Morrigan.” I nodded as she continued. “Shall I guess your purpose? You sought something in that chest, something that is here no longer?”

“Here no longer? You stole them, didn’t you?” Alistair’s normally smooth-talking nature seemed to vanish. “You’re... some kind of... sneaky... witch-thief!”

“How very eloquent. How does one steal from dead men?” Morrigan asked plainly.

Alistair scoffed, “Quite easily, it seems. Those documents are Grey Warden property and I suggest you return them!”

“I will not, for ’twas not I who removed them,” Morrigan retorted curtly. “Invoke a name that means nothing here any longer if you wish. I am not threatened.”

I quickly spoke up, hoping to hold the tenuous peace. “Then who removed them?”

Giving me a slight smile, Morrigan responded, “’Twas my mother, in fact.”

Nodding, I asked politely, “Can you take us to her?”

“Hmm, there is a sensible request. I like you.”

“I’d be careful,” Alistair muttered under his breath. “First it’s, ‘I like you...’ but then ‘Zap!’ Frog time.”

I rolled my eyes.

Daveth still seemed paranoid. “She’ll put us all in the pot, she will. Just you watch!”

“If the pot’s warmer than this forest,” Jory suddenly chimed in, “it’d be a nice change.”

“Follow me then,” Morrigan said as she started walking off. “If it pleases you.” 

 

After slogging through more swampy forest, we approached a decrepit shack. Outside of it stood an old woman with stringy grey hair and piercing eyes.

“Greetings, Mother,” Morrigan began. “I bring before you four Grey Wardens, who – ”

Where Morrigan’s voice was sultry and smooth, a very raspy, witch-like voice from the elder woman answered, “I see them girl. Mmm. Much as I expected.”

Alistair looked dubious. “Are we supposed to believe you were expecting us?”

Morrigan’s mother replied scornfully, “You are required to do nothing, least of all believe. Shut one’s eyes tight or open one’s arms wide... either way, one’s a fool!”

Daveth muttered, still rather paranoid, “She’s a witch I tell you! We shouldn’t be talking to her!”

Jory’s eyes widened and he whispered vehemently, “Quiet, Daveth! If she’s really a witch, do you want to make her mad?”

Morrigan’s mother chuckled. “There’s a smart lad. Sadly irrelevant to the larger scheme of things, but it is not I who decides. Believe what you will.” She turned to me. “But what of you? Does your woman’s mind give you a different viewpoint?” She glanced back at the men. “Or do you believe as these boys do?”

I was quiet for a moment before I answered, “I’m not sure what to believe...”

The elder woman’s eyebrows went up for a split second as she replied, “A statement that possesses more wisdom than it implies. Be always aware... or is it oblivious? I can never remember.” She gave a very brief chuckle, then continued. “So much about you is uncertain... and yet I believe. Do I?” She seemed almost amused at herself. “Why, it seems I do!”

“So... this is a dreaded Witch of the Wilds?” Alistair looked at me quizzically.

“Witch of the Wilds, eh?” she started to laugh. “Morrigan must have told you that. She fancies such tales, though she would never admit it!” She laughed harder. “Oh, how she dances under the moon!”

Morrigan briefly put her hand to her head, as though embarrassed, but quickly said, “They did not come to listen to your wild tales, mother.”

Morrigan’s mother nodded. “True, they came for their treaties, yes? And before you begin barking...” she looked at Alistair specifically, “...your precious seal wore off long ago. I have protected these.”

“You...” Alistair started off harshly, but then quickly withdrew. “Oh... You protected them?”

“And why not?” she asked pointedly as she handed the documents over. “Take them to your Grey Wardens and tell them that this Blight’s threat is greater than they realize!”

“What do you mean?” I asked worriedly.

“Either the threat is more or they realize less,” she replied cryptically. “Or perhaps the threat is nothing!” She started laughing. “Or perhaps they realize nothing!” She laughed harder, then stopped abruptly, which was rather creepy. “Oh, do not mind me,” she chuckled again. “You have what you came for!”

“Time for you to go then,” Morrigan quickly snapped.

“Do not be ridiculous, girl,” Morrigan’s mother admonished. “These are your guests!”

Morrigan sighed. “Oh, very well. I will show you out of the woods. Follow me.”

As we left, I pondered all that had just transpired.

 


	2. The Joining and The Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylara survives the Joining ritual, but what lies ahead in her first darkspawn battle?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art for this chapter by the lovely Pooky! http://pookyhuntress.tumblr.com Thank you so much!!

We got back to camp just as the sun was going down. While the men were able to wipe most of the mud and blood off their armor, I had quietly gone to Wynne to see if there was a spare mage robe that I could use. Fortunately, there was one, though it was a bit tight on me.

After changing, I headed to the kennel master and handed him the Wilds flower that he had been looking for. He looked relieved and immediately made an ointment for the sick Mabari.

I headed back to the bonfire where Duncan looked relieved to see us.

“I’ve had the Circle mages preparing. With the blood you have gathered, we can begin the Joining ritual shortly.”

Alistair quickly said, “There was a strange woman at the ruins, and her mother had the scrolls. They were both a bit... odd.”

“Were they wilder folk?” Duncan asked.

“No,” Alistair replied. “I think they were apostates. Mages hiding from the Chantry.”

Duncan shook his head slightly, “I know you were once to be a Templar, Alistair... but Chantry business is not ours. We have the scrolls; that is what is important. Let’s now focus on the Joining.”

Alistair looked slightly crestfallen but nodded.

“If I may, Duncan...” He turned towards me. “May I ask what this ritual is all about? Why is it so secret?”

“I will not lie,” he replied gravely. “We Grey Wardens pay a heavy price to become what we are. Fate may decree that you pay that price now, rather than later.”

I swallowed nervously. “Are you saying this ritual may... kill us?”

Duncan nodded slowly. “As could any darkspawn you face on the battlefield. I would not have chosen you though if I did not think that you had the chance to survive it.”

Daveth suddenly spoke. “I’m anxious to get this done.”

To my surprise, Jory also agreed. Since he had complained most of the time we were in the Wilds, I thought for sure he’d be asking to back out.

Duncan nodded at once and said, “Alistair, take them to the old temple.”

 

As we waited for Duncan to finish the preparations, Jory suddenly started right back with the complaints.

“The more I hear about this Joining, the less I like it.”

“Are you blubbering again?” Daveth turned to face him, arms folded across his chest.

Jory frowned. “Why all these tests? Have I not already earned my place?”

Daveth had little patience. “Maybe it’s tradition. Or maybe they’re doing it just to annoy you!”

I thought to myself, _I swear I’m the bravest one here, and I’m a woman!_

But Jory kept right on going. “All I know is my wife is in Highever, with child. If they had just warned me...” He sighed. “It just doesn’t seem fair.”

“And would you have come if they **had** warned you?” Daveth retorted. “Maybe that’s why they don’t. The Grey Wardens do what they must to protect this world.”

“Including sacrificing us?”

I sighed. I really wanted to slap Jory right about now. I was beginning to think Daveth did too.

“I’d sacrifice a lot more if I thought it would end this Blight,” he said sternly.

I thought about what he just said and replied, “But we don’t know that, Daveth...”

“Don’t we? Grey Wardens should know this better than anyone.” He turned back to Jory. “You saw those darkspawn, ser knight. Wouldn’t you die to protect your pretty wife from them?”

“I...” Jory stammered.

“Maybe you’ll die. Maybe I’ll die. One thing is for certain, if no one stops the darkspawn, we’ll all die for sure!” Daveth exclaimed.

“I’ve just never faced a situation I couldn’t engage with my blade,” Jory muttered.

Duncan finally joined us at the temple carrying an old silver goblet in his hand.

“At last we come to the Joining. The Grey Wardens were founded during the First Blight when humanity stood on the verge of annihilation.” He set the goblet on an old stone table. “So it was that the first Grey Wardens drank of darkspawn blood and mastered their taint.”

Jory backed up a step. “You want us to drink the blood... of those... creatures?”

Duncan nodded. “As the first Grey Wardens did before us, as we did before you. This… is the source of our power and our victory.”

“Those that survive the Joining become immune to the taint,” Alistair added. “We can sense it in the darkspawn and use it to slay the archdemon.”

“Not all who drink the blood will survive, and those that do are forever changed,” Duncan replied. “This is why the Joining is a secret. It is the price we pay.”

I had to admit I was getting a bit nervous, but then I thought of my Harrowing. If I could face that challenge, then I can master this one as well.

“We speak only a few words prior to the Joining, but these words have been spoken since the first. Alistair, if you would?”

Alistair bowed his head slightly. “Join us, brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows where we stand, vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be forsworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten and that one day we will join you.”

I had noticed Jory fidgeting during Alistair’s beautiful speech. He had kept glancing at Duncan to the goblet on the table and back at Duncan. I shook my head. _We all have fears to face,_ I thought at him, _and you’re not handling them very well._ He was a coward, this knight. I was curious as to why he was even here. Duncan must have seen something in him. I just wondered what it could have been.

My thoughts were interrupted when I suddenly heard Duncan say, “Daveth, step forward.”

Daveth did as he was asked. He took the goblet from Duncan’s hands, paused for a moment, and then took a single sip. He handed the goblet back. For a few precious seconds, nothing happened. Then suddenly Daveth screamed and his eyes rolled back into his head. He started shaking and convulsing.

“Maker’s Breath!” Jory exclaimed and backed away.

Daveth clutched his throat as he collapsed to his knees. Gasping and choking, he fell to the ground. In mere seconds, he was dead.

“I am sorry, Daveth,” Duncan said sorrowfully. I murmured a quick prayer for Daveth, as Duncan said slowly, “Step forward, Jory.”

But Jory didn’t step forward. He backed up even further. “But... I have a wife! A child!” He drew his sword. “Had I known...”

Duncan normally stoic face became angry. “There is no turning back.”

Jory continued to back away, sword at the ready. “No! You ask too much! There is no glory in this!”

Duncan drew his own sword. Jory made a swipe at Duncan, which was quickly countered. Then Duncan’s blade quickly swung around and stabbed Jory in the chest. I gasped in horror.

“I am sorry,” Duncan said as Jory fell to the ground. Dead. Blood oozed from the wound into the dirt and stone floor. I had to back up a step. I should have known that something like this was bound to happen to Jory, but I hadn’t expected it to end with such a violent death.

Duncan sheathed his sword and picked up the goblet again. “But the Joining is not yet complete.” He handed the goblet to me. “You are called upon to submit yourself to the taint for the greater good.”

I held the goblet in my trembling hands. The blood was so dark. Not a single bit of light reflected from its surface. I took a quick breath. My eyes came up and locked with Alistair’s own. His warm honey brown met with my ocean blue. He looked scared for me. _I want to survive this_ , I prayed quietly. _I want to be a part of something good for this world_. I took my sip.

The blood burned like acid as it made its way through me. Time seemed to freeze. Sudden excruciating pain wracked my body. I convulsed wildly. I couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe. It felt like sharp glass shards were slicing me, inside and out. I think I screamed, but I couldn’t hear. All of a sudden visions flashed before me. A poisonous green sky. Horrible monstrous creatures. A massive dragon atop a tower, roaring with fury. Then everything went black.

 

I don’t know how much time had passed, but slowly the world came back into focus. I saw Alistair breathing a sigh of relief, and heard Duncan say, “It is finished. Welcome.”

Alistair helped me to my feet. “Two more deaths.” He said sadly. “In my Joining only one of us died, but it was... horrible. I am glad at least that one of you made it through.”

“How do you feel?” Duncan asked.

“Nothing you said prepared me for that,” I moaned, my muscles still aching.

“Such is what it takes to be a Grey Warden.” Duncan acknowledged.

Alistair put a gentle hand on my arm. I looked into his warm brown eyes again. “Did you have dreams?” I nodded slowly, as he continued. “I had terrible dreams after my Joining.”

“Such dreams come when you begin to sense the darkspawn, as we all do,” Duncan responded. “That, and many other things can be explained in the months to come.”

“Before I forget,” Alistair suddenly said, “there is one last part of your Joining. We take some of that blood and put it into a pendant.” He looped the chain of a simple silver locket around my neck and closed the clasp. “It is something to remind us... of those who didn’t make it this far.”

I glanced down at the bodies of Daveth and Jory, which had already been laid side by side and covered with a large blanket. _Maker watch over you both_ , I prayed.

“Take some time,” Duncan spoke quietly. “When you are ready, I’d like you to accompany me to a meeting with the king.”

I nodded. “Very well.”

“Wait,” Alistair interjected, “I’m not invited?”

“I need you to go back to the camp and gather up a few belongings for us, Alistair. Pack our supplies. You know what we need…” Duncan explained. “The meeting won’t be long, and I will fill you in once we get back.”

Alistair looked a bit put-out but agreed.

“The meeting is to the west, down the ramp. Please attend as soon as you are able.”

 

“Loghain, my decision is final,” I overheard King Cailan as I approached the war table. “I will stand by the Grey Wardens in this assault.”

Loghain scowled. “You risk too much Cailan. The darkspawn horde is too dangerous for you to be playing ‘hero’ on the front lines.”

“If that’s the case, then perhaps we should wait for the Orleasian forces to join us after all,” Cailan said with a hint of a smile.

“I must repeat my protest to your foolish notion that we need the Orleasians to defend ourselves,” Loghain replied with anger.

“It is not a foolish notion!” Cailan frowned. “Our arguments with the Orleasians are a thing of the past… and you will remember who is King.”

“How fortunate Maric didn’t live to see his son ready to hand Ferelden over to those who enslaved us for a century!” Loghain growled.

“Then our current forces will have to suffice.” Cailan turned to Duncan. “Duncan, are your people ready for battle?”

Duncan bowed slightly. “They are, your Majesty.”

“And this is the young woman from the Circle that I met earlier? I understand that congratulations are in order.”

“I don’t feel that special, your Grace,” I said humbly.

“Oh, but you are. Every Grey Warden is needed now. You should be honored to join their ranks.”

Loghain shook his head slowly. “Your fascination with glory and legends will be your undoing, Cailan. We must attend to reality.”

“Fine. Let’s discuss your strategy then.” The King bent over the war table to look at a map of Ostagar. “The Grey Wardens and I draw the darkspawn into charging our lines… and then?”

Loghain also looked at the map. “You will alert the Tower to light the beacon, signaling my men to charge from the – ”

“…to flank the darkspawn. I remember.” The King pointed to a specific point on the map. “This is the Tower of Ishal in the ruins, yes? Hmm. Well, who shall light this beacon?”

“I have a few men stationed there,” Loghain replied curtly. “It is not a dangerous task, but it **is** vital.”

King Cailan nodded in agreement. “Then we should send out very best. Send Alistair and the new Grey Warden to make sure it is done.”

“You mean I won’t be fighting in the battle?” I asked.

“We need that beacon,” Duncan replied. “Without it, Loghain’s men won’t know when to charge.”

Ever the optimist, the King quipped, “You see? Glory for everyone!”

“You rely on these Grey Wardens too much,” Loghain admonished. “Is that truly wise?”

Cailan was clearly annoyed. “Enough of your conspiracy theories, Loghain. Grey Wardens battle the Blight, no matter where they are from.”

“Enough!” Loghain almost shouted. “This plan will suffice. The new Grey Wardens will light the beacon.”

“Thank you, Loghain. I cannot wait for that glorious moment! The Grey Wardens battling beside the King of Ferelden to stem the tide of evil!”

As Loghain started walking away, I heard him say quietly, “Yes, Cailan... A glorious moment for us all...”

I wasn’t so sure I liked the tone of his voice.

 

Alistair was even more upset as Duncan explained the job we were to do.

“What? Now I won’t be in the battle either?”

“This is by the King’s personal request, Alistair.” Duncan calmly replied. “If the beacon is not lit, Loghain and his troops won’t know when to charge.”

“So he needs two Grey Wardens standing up there, holding the torch. Just in case, right?” I held a small smile at Alistair’s quirky remark.

“The tower is on the other side of the gorge that we crossed when we first came here,” Duncan told me. “You’ll need to cross that bridge again, and head through the gate and up to the tower entrance. From the top, you will be able to see the whole of the valley. We will signal you, so you will know when to light the beacon. Alistair knows what to look for.”

“What will we do if the archdemon appears?” I had to ask.

Alistair chuckled briefly. “We soil our drawers, that’s what!”

“If it does, you let me and the other senior Grey Wardens handle it,” Duncan said sternly.

“The Maker watch over you, Duncan,” Alistair said.

“May he watch over us all,” Duncan replied.

 

The storm that had been threating to come down all day finally decided to light up the night sky with massive lightning bolts. Alistair and I made our way to the bridge to cross over. We could see the King’s troops far below us in the valley. I glanced to the south.

There were torches burning and smoke billowing off in the distance. I heard growling, guttural roars and other really unpleasant sounds. Then the fog and smoke started to clear. The sight before me made me weak in the knees. Far from the few darkspawn that Alistair and I had battled in the Korcari Wilds earlier that afternoon, this was a **massive** gathering of darkspawn.

There were thousands upon thousands! I could make out the smaller weaker ones we had fought earlier in the front of the group, but behind them were much larger and more cruel looking darkspawn. I could even make out ones that towered way above them! _They must be at least three to four meters tall_ , I thought as bile rose in my throat. My hand gripped Alistair’s arm tightly.

He glanced at me, his eyes flashing that startling golden color in the dark and quietly said, “I know this looks really dire to you, but the King’s troops are all seasoned veterans, and they’ve got Duncan with them. I know this is your first major darkspawn battle, but our troops will do what they must. We also have the element of surprise with Loghain’s troops in waiting.” He rested his other hand on top of mine and gave me a faint smile. “Come now, we have our own job to do. Let’s go.”

I nodded, and Alistair and I began to cross the bridge. I heard a massive roar from the darkspawn troops as they began to rush across the field in the valley. Suddenly, hundreds of flaming arrows launched across the sky and into the oncoming horde. A large pack of Mabari charged into battle next. Many darkspawn fell, but others still trampled right over the dead bodies and continued charging. I heard the shouts from the King’s troops as they also ran into the battle. Lightning and thunder crashed above and then the rain instantly came pouring down. Through the haze of rain and smoke, I saw swords and shield clashing. Sparks flew and blood was spraying everywhere, darkspawn as well as human.

Alistair and I had almost made it across the bridge when a massive flaming boulder crashed into one of the abutments causing the whole thing to shake. I tripped and fell from the shock of the attack. My staff slipped out of my hand and almost slid off the edge of the broken part of the bridge. Alistair quickly caught it before it fell, then ran back over to me and assisted me up.

“Whew! That was a bit close, wasn’t it?” he yelled above the din. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, I think so,” I shouted back. “Let’s get going before that happens again!”

He nodded, and we quickly ran the rest of the way across the bridge and headed for the tower.

 

We were just approaching the tower’s entrance when two of Loghain’s men ran towards us.

“Help us!” one of them shouted. “They’re everywhere! They’ve taken the tower!”

“What are you talking about?!” Alistair exclaimed. “Taken? How?”

The soldier's face was as white as a ghost under his helmet. “The darkspawn came up through the lower chambers! They’re everywhere! Most of our men that were here are dead!”

“Then we have to get to that beacon and light it ourselves!” Alistair said furiously.

We ran past the huge bonfire and up the ramp. Almost immediately darkspawn started attacking. I cast my Flaming Weapons charm so that Alistair and the other soldier’s swords could do more damage. Then I started casting fire and electricity at the remaining enemies. No sooner than that battle finished, more darkspawn rushed in. We dispatched them as well. Finally, we got to the tower entrance.

Alistair and the soldiers pushed the huge doors open and we entered. It was eerily quiet as we walked to the main rotunda of the tower. Now that I was a true Grey Warden, I could actually feel the darkspawn in the tower, and the soldier had been telling the truth… there were a **lot**. Suddenly I noticed a faint line of a tripwire and a soldier too close.

“Watch out!” I shouted, but it was too late. An explosion rocked the building as we were all thrown back. Spots swam before my eyes, and my ears were ringing. A horde of darkspawn rushed in at the sound of the explosion. We got to our feet as quickly as we could.

One of the darkspawn lit a barricade on fire, and then they started loosing arrows on us. I cast what spells I could, but the barricade blocked some of them. Alistair and the rest of the group made their way around the flaming barricade, dodging arrows. As soon as they engaged the enemies and the arrows stopped flying, I carefully made my way around the barricade as well.

Once all the darkspawn were dead, we made our way into the next area; a narrow hallway that had two doors. We opened the one on the left, and more darkspawn started attacking. We quickly killed them, and then in the next room saw how they had gotten into the tower before us. There was a massive hole, so deep that we could not see the bottom.

Alistair kicked a rock into it, and there was nothing but silence for a long while. Finally, we heard a faint sound as the rock hit the bottom. One soldier whistled low.

“Maker’s Breath!” Alistair said, keeping his voice low. “What are these darkspawn doing ahead of the rest of the horde? There wasn’t supposed to be any resistance here!”

Even though I was a bit scared, I quipped, “You could try telling them they’re in the wrong place?”

Alistair looked at me and flashed a quick grin of his own. “Yes, because clearly this was all just a big misunderstanding! We’ll laugh about this later.” His gaze turned serious again. He looked at the stairwell heading up. He could sense, just as I could, that the darkspawn were massing for another attack. “Let’s go,” he whispered, pointing at the stairs.

We continued up and up the tower, fighting near constantly. Alistair and I were running on pure adrenaline, but we could see the other soldiers flagging a bit. Finally, at the final flight of stairs, we stopped for a brief rest. There was still a little bit of time to light the beacon, and I could sense no more darkspawn below us. There was only one presence above us, and it was staying still.

“Loghain better be ready to charge as soon as we light the signal,” Alistair muttered quietly. “The King is depending on us.”

We all got up and headed up the final flight of stairs.

 

Alistair kicked open the door at the top of the tower and we rushed in. The one and only darkspawn in the room was crouched in the corner. It was crunching and slurping on something very messily... which turned out to be the remains of some of the other soldiers. It sensed us, turned slowly and stood. I glanced up... and up... My mouth fell open in shock. This thing was humongous! It roared loudly, spraying blood and spittle across the floor. Then it charged at us.

I strategically backed away, letting the soldiers and Alistair get the ugly brute’s attention. Then I started casting my spells. I healed when I could, and used my fighting spells. Despite our best efforts, one of Loghain’s soldiers was grabbed by the beast. It gave a mighty squeeze, and we heard a loud crunch as the poor man’s back was broken. The monster then flung the body aside like a ragdoll.

Loghain’s other man yelled in anger and charged at the beast. Before I could shout at the man to not be so stupid, the beast picked up a large piece of rubble and tossed it at the poor soldier. It hit and crushed him.

Now it was down to just Alistair and me. I was getting low on mana, so I quickly reached into my pocket and pulled out a small lyrium potion. Once I swallowed the bitter concoction, I quickly cast a large lightning spell. It did a lot of damage, but it also got the beast’s attention and it charged me. I quickly ran as fast as I could away from it. Alistair gave chase. He reached out as far as he could and swung his sword. Fortunately, it hit the creature’s hamstring muscle, which caused it to crash to the ground. Alistair ran up to the massively thick neck and sliced down as hard as he could, again and again. Blood was spraying everywhere. Finally, the beast stopped moving. It was dead.

I quickly ran up to Alistair, who was breathing hard with exertion; his eyes, that eerie golden color. He turned to me slowly, dropped his sword and then quickly hugged me tight to his chest. For a few moments, I couldn’t breathe, but not from the tightness of the grip. Warmth spread through my entire body, and I could hear the pounding of his heart. I closed my eyes briefly. Finally, he let me go.

“Are you all right?” he asked with concern.

“Y-yes,” I said. “I am fine.”

“Andraste’s Flaming Sword, that was close!” He glanced at the behemoth’s body, it’s black blood oozing across the floor. Taking a deep breath, he quickly said, “We’ve probably missed the signal. I’ll light the beacon! You head over there and let me know what is going on down there!”

I ran over to a large bay of windows and looked down. I could barely make out the fighting, still going on. I glanced to the north, where Loghain’s troops were waiting. They were still there.

“Loghain’s troops are still waiting!” I quickly shouted. “Light the beacon!”

Alistair did, and we could hear the explosion as the flames rocketed up, lighting the night sky. I turned back to the windows, waiting for the charge. However, what I saw instead made my face freeze in disbelief. The troops were not charging towards the battle... Instead, they were turning and marching away!

“What’s going on?” Alistair asked quickly.

I couldn’t speak. Tears welled up in my eyes. My breath hitched. “O-oh... Alistair...” I could barely get the words out. “L-Loghain and his troops... are... are l-leaving!”

“What?!” he cried. “NO! He can’t do that! The King! Duncan! They’ll all be slaughtered!”

He turned and started walking to me. So preoccupied we were with Loghain’s betrayal, that we didn’t sense the darkspawn approaching us until it was too late.

An arrow whizzed by and struck me in the chest. I screamed and fell.

“KYLARA!” Alistair yelled as he tried to get to me. He was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number of darkspawn swarming into the room. Alistair fought bravely, but got knocked out. He fell to the ground.

 

Time passed. Alistair woke in a haze of pain. He could see the room was empty now, save for the dead bodies of both darkspawn and humans. He saw my body lying in a pool of blood, an arrow jutting from my chest, and two in my lower abdomen.

“N-no...” he whispered. He painfully rolled over and began a slow crawl towards my body. It seemed to take forever, but he finally got to me. His gloved hand gently reached out and touched my face. There was no response. “Kylara...” he murmured, tears in his voice. “Please, don’t die!” He closed his eyes and whispered quietly. “I don’t want to be alone… Please...” The pain started to overtake him, and he collapsed again to the ground, his arm still over my body as if to protect me.

Before oblivion, Alistair thought he heard the sound of massive wings outside of the tower. Then darkness took him completely. **1**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 Giving credit to some incredible mod makers Tinimaus & SarahCousland’s The Rescue At Ishal https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/4690, as I used inspiration from that beautiful mod for this part of my story. Thanks!
> 
> If you'd like to watch Kylara's Joining, the Battle of Ostagar, and the Rescue At Ishal - here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27J9xb9ERXM (Many thanks to Tini for the help!!)


	3. Recovery and The Journey to Lothering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylara's world has been turned upside-down! What will happen to her and Alistair now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beautiful sketch of Alistair helping Kylara understand the darkspawn nightmares by the VERY talented Ambellina! (https://ambellinaleander.tumblr.com) <3

My eyes opened blearily. I closed them and then reopened them to get a better look at my surroundings. I was in a small room on a bed. Someone was adjusting books onto a nearby shelf. She turned and faced me.

“Ah, your eyes finally open. Mother shall be pleased.”

I groaned slightly as I sat up. “I remember you. You’re Morrigan, right? We met you in the Wilds.” I glanced around the room. _This must be where she and her mother live_ , I thought. “But... How did I get here? The last thing I remember is the tower and the darkspawn… rushing in and attacking us.”

“Mother rescued the two of you, though ‘twas a close call,” she said as she checked my bandages. “What is important is that you live.” She sighed slightly and stood back up. “The man who was to respond to your signal quit the field. The darkspawn won your battle.”

It all came rushing back to me now. Alistair lighting the beacon and my horror as I realized that Loghain had betrayed us. My eyes moistened with tears.

Morrigan handed me a rag for my tears and said, “Your friend. He is not taking it well either.”

“Alistair? He is all right then?” I asked hopefully.

“His wounds were less severe than your own. Mother healed you both.”

“How long have I been here?” I asked.

“Five days. You actually healed much faster than Mother expected.”

 _Five days_... I let that sink in. “What happened to Duncan, the King, and his troops?” I feared I knew the answer to come.

Morrigan shook her head. “All dead.” She then looked directly at me. “Your friend has veered between denial and grief ever since Mother told him. He is just outside, standing at the edge of the water.”

“Are we safe here? What about the darkspawn?”

She smirked briefly and said. “Mother’s magic keeps them away. We are safe here for the moment. Once you leave, ‘tis uncertain what will happen. The horde has moved on, so you might avoid them.”

I nodded. Morrigan handed me my clean and mended robes. As I started to dress, I asked, “How did your mother rescue us from the tower?”

“She turned into a giant bird, and plucked the two of you off the tower, one in each talon.”

“Really?” I must have sounded doubtful because Morrigan turned to me with anger in her eyes.

“If you do not believe me, then ask Mother. She may even tell you the whole tale!”

“I am sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, Morrigan. I have just never heard of magic such as that.” I said quietly.

The fire in her eyes cooled somewhat, and she seemed mollified. “’Tis alright. Yes, there are many forms of magic that your precious Circle does not tell you about.”

“Were there any survivors besides us?” Again, I felt I knew the answer to this as well.

“Only stragglers that are long gone. You would not want to see what is happening in that valley right now,” she replied.

 _You’re right, I probably wouldn’t_ , I thought. To myself, I muttered, “Why would Loghain abandon the King?” However Morrigan overhead me.

“I do not even know who this Loghain is,” she said. “Perhaps Mother knows. She asked to see you when you awoke.”

I got up from the small bed and gathered my staff. “Thank you, Morrigan. For everything.”

A flush of pink came to Morrigan’s cheeks. “I... You are welcome, though Mother did most of the work. I am no healer.” She gestured to the door. “Go on now. I will stay here and fix something to eat.”

 

As I exited Morrigan’s home, I overheard her mother say, “See? Here is your fellow Grey Warden. You worry too much young man.”

Alistair came up to me and quickly hugged me. I felt that flush of warmth tingling through my body again. “You... You’re alive!” He released me but kept his hands on my shoulders. “I thought you were dead for sure!”

I looked into his anxious brown eyes. “I’m fine. I appreciate your concern.”

He shook his head. “This doesn’t seem real. If not for Morrigan’s mother, we both be dead on top of that tower!”

“Do not talk about me as if I am not present, lad.” She glared at Alistair.

He quickly turned towards her. “I-I didn’t mean... but what do we call you?” he asked. “You never told us your name.”

“Names are pretty but useless,” she replied. “The Chasind folk call me Flemeth. I suppose it will do.”

Alistair’s eyes widened. “ **The** Flemeth from the legends? Daveth was right – you’re the Witch of the Wilds, aren’t you?”

“And what does that mean?” she asked, eyes narrowing. “I know a bit of magic, and it has served you both well, has it not?”

I quickly stepped in. “I suppose we should thank you.”

Flemeth’s eyes still burned with anger. “If you know what is good for you, I suppose you should.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way,” I quickly said. “I mean, is there some way we can repay you?”

Flemeth snorted. “All that I wish is for you to do what you are meant to do. It has always been the Grey Warden’s duty to unite the lands against the Blight.” She looked at the two of us pointedly. “Or did that change when I wasn’t looking?”

I glanced at Alistair. “This land is hardly united now, thanks to Loghain.”

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Alistair said angrily. “Why would he do this?"

“Now **that** is a good question. Men’s hearts hold shadows darker than any tainted creature,” Flemeth replied with wisdom. “Perhaps he believes that the Blight is an army he can outmaneuver. Perhaps he does not see the evil behind it is the true threat.”

“The archdemon...” Alistair murmured.

“What could the teyrn hope to gain by betraying the King?” I asked.

“The throne?” Alistair looked grim. “He is the Queen’s father, after all. Still, I can’t see how he’ll get away with murder.”

Flemeth gave a cruel chuckle. “You speak as if he’d be the first king to gain his throne that way. Grow up, boy!”

Alistair shook his head. “If Arl Eamon knew what he did, he would never stand for it! The Landsmeet would never stand for it! There would be civil war!”

“Do you think the arl would believe us over the teyrn?” I asked.

“I know him,” Alistair said firmly. “He's a good man, respected in the Landsmeet. He is also Cailan’s uncle. We should go to Redcliffe and appeal to him for help!”

“That sounds like a good idea,” I said with a small smile.

“But...” The doubt was back in Alistair’s voice. “He can’t defeat the darkspawn horde by himself.”

I put my hand on Alistair’s arm lightly. “Surely there are other allies we can count on?”

Light and hope sprang back into Alistair’s eyes. “Of course! The treaties! The Grey Wardens can demand help from the dwarves, elves, and mages in other places! They are obligated to help us out during a Blight!”

Flemeth smirked. “I may be old, but dwarves, elves, mages... this Arl Eamon, and who knows what else... This sounds like an army to me!”

“So, can we do this?” Alistair turned to me. “Can we go to Redcliffe and these other places and build an army?”

I nodded. “Isn’t that what Grey Wardens do?”

“So you are set then?” Flemeth asked. “Ready to be Grey Wardens?”

“Yes,” I smiled. “Thank you for everything Flemeth.”

“No... no. Thank you,” Flemeth said earnestly. “You are the Grey Wardens here, not I.”

Just then Morrigan walked out of the hut. “The stew is bubbling, Mother. Shall we have two guests this eve, or none?”

“The Grey Wardens will be leaving shortly girl... and **you** will be joining them.”

“Such a shame. Wait... What?!” Morrigan’s looked at her mother in shock.

Flemeth laughed. “You heard me, girl. The last time I looked, you had ears.”

We needed allies, so I said, “I think that’s an excellent idea!”

Morrigan looked aghast. “Have **I** no say in this?”

“You have been itching to get out of the Wilds for years,” Flemeth replied in a no-nonsense tone of voice. “Now here’s your chance.” She turned to Alistair and me. “As for you, Grey Wardens, consider this as repayment for your lives.”

I nodded. “Very well, we will take her with us.”

“Understand this, Wardens,” Flemeth said seriously. “I give you that which I value above all else in this world. I do this because you **must** succeed.”

“She will not come to harm while she is with us,” I promised.

“Um...” Alistair began hesitantly, “But won’t this cause a problem one we leave here?” Flemeth looked at him quizzically. “Er, I mean, outside of the Wilds she’s an apostate.”

“If you do not wish help from us illegal mages, boy...” Flemeth said darkly, “Then perhaps I should have left you there on top of that tower?”

Alistair’s face flushed bright red. “Point taken.”

“Mother, this is not how I wanted this! I am not ready!”

Flemeth put a hand on her daughter’s arm briefly. “You must be ready. Alone, these two must unite Ferelden against the darkspawn. They need you, Morrigan. Without you, they will surely fail, and all will perish under the Blight. Even I.”

“I... understand,” Morrigan said softly. To us, she said, “Allow me to get my things if you please.” She walked back into the hut.

A few minutes later she returned with a small pack on her back and her staff. “I am at your disposal, Grey Wardens. I suggest a small village north of the Wilds as our first destination. ‘Tis not far, and you shall find much you need there. Or if you prefer, I can simply be your... silent guide.”

“No,” I said. “I’d prefer it if you spoke your mind.”

Flemeth laughed. “You may regret saying that!”

“So, um, Tell me about this village to the north.”

“’Tis a small place of little consequence called Lothering,” Morrigan said. “We can get supplies there, and I also mention it for its tavern. Travelers gather there for news and gossip from other places. ‘Tis also small enough that we might go unnoticed. Beyond that, ‘tis close, and I know the way.” She then turned to her mother. “Farewell, Mother. Do not forget the stew on the fire. I’d hate to come home to a burned down hut.”

“Bah!” Flemeth exclaimed. “It is far more likely that you will return to see this entire area, along with my hut, swallowed up by the Blight!”

Morrigan looked abashed. “I... All I meant was...”

In a more gentle tone, Flemeth said, “Yes, I know. Do try to have fun dear.”

 

As we left the cold wetlands part of the Korcari Wilds and approached the outskirts of Ostagar, Alistair became very quiet. I could only imagine what must be going through his mind. He had been a Grey Warden for at least six months and had known Duncan longer than me. I had only met Duncan recently, but the man had made an impression on me that would forever stay in my heart and mind. There was a part of me that wanted to comfort Alistair or at least say something to him, but I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea at the moment.

Morrigan also seemed quiet, but most likely for a much different reason. She was, at the moment, putting drops of a foul-smelling liquid that her mother had given to her on the ground to mask our scent from any lingering darkspawn. I couldn’t sense any, but for all practical purposes, it still made sense to be cautious.

When we had cleared the Ostagar area and moved far enough north, Alistair decided we should set up camp for the night. I offered to cook, so Alistair went to go look for some nearby game. Morrigan decided to look for nearby herbs that I figured she would use for potions.

A little while later, Alistair returned with a wild hare the had managed to snare. I quickly skinned it and put it onto a spit to roast by the fire. Morrigan then returned as well and surprised me by handing me some tubers and wild onions she had dug up, along with some savory herbs.

“Thank you, Morrigan. I can use these to make a stew.”

“’Tis not a problem. They just happened to be in the same area where I was looking for healing herbs,” she said quickly.

Morrigan had also happened to bring a small stewpot with her gear. It sat on stubby legs, so I put in on a batch of coals from our fire. Once the hare had roasted, I cut it into small pieces, and along with the tubers, onions, herbs and some water, we soon had a bubbling stew cooking.

Soon it was finished. I gave everyone a small bowl. Alistair took his bowl and quietly sat on the other side of the fire, away from Morrigan and me. He ate in silence. I looked at him with sadness.

“’Tis nothing that you can do for him,” she whispered to me. “He will talk when he feels like it.”

I nodded and ate my supper as well. Morrigan did compliment me on the food, so there was at least that.

After washing our bowls in a nearby stream, we prepared for sleep. Alistair said he would take first watch. Morrigan and I nodded and then lay on our bedrolls. Sleep came quickly.

 

I was floating above a huge chasm. Below me were thousands upon thousands of darkspawn. I saw genlocks, hurlocks, ogres, and shrieks. Somehow I knew them, even without having ever seen them before. Some carried torches, others still swords, axes, polearms, and bows. All were marching to an unknown destination. From above my vantage, I suddenly saw a huge dragon. My vision shifted and now I was flying alongside the monster. It roared. The darkspawn looked at it with reverence. The dragon landed on a broken bridge spanning the chasm. It’s breath now emitted flames and poisonous gases. As it roared again, the darkspawn below started beating their weapons and shields. The stomped their feet and roared along with the dragon. I tried to cover my ears, but the sound still penetrated. I tried to close my eyes, but the vision wouldn’t stop. I tried to scream, but my voice was lost.

 

I awoke with terror in my throat but fortunately stopped it before I vocalized it. I clutched my hand to my chest; cold sweat on my forehead.

“Bad dreams, huh?” Alistair asked quietly.

As my breathing calmed, I saw the concern on Alistair’s face. “I-It was... It seemed so **real** ,” I murmured.

“Well, it **is** real... sort of,” he said. “You see, part of being a Grey Warden is being able to ‘hear’ the darkspawn. That is what your dream was. You were hearing them.” He got up, walked over to my bedroll, and then knelt beside me.

“The archdemon, it ‘talks’ to the horde, and we feel it just as they do. That is why we know this really is a Blight.”

I sighed deeply. Alistair took my hand and gently squeezed it. Warmth fluttered through me; bringing a flush to my cheeks. _Alistair is very handsome_. I thought. _But I_ _shouldn’t let myself become attracted to him. This is a Blight and we both have a job to do._ Still, I couldn’t seem to help what I was feeling. I took a calming breath and then asked him, “Is the archdemon really a dragon?”

He thought about it for a moment before answering. “I don't know if it really is a dragon but it sure looks like one. Regarding the dreams, it may take a while but eventually you can block them out. Some of the older Grey Wardens claim they  can understand the Archdemon a bit, but I sure can't.” He gave my hand another gentle squeeze and then let it go. “Anyhow, when I saw you thrashing about, I thought I should tell you. It was scary at first for me, too.” He got up.

“Thank you, Alistair. I appreciate it," I said.

He gave me a smile. I was glad to see that he seemed to be going back to his normal behavior. A silent Alistair just didn’t seem right.

“That's what I'm here for. To deliver unpleasant news and witty one-liners,” he quipped and I laughed.

“You go on and get some sleep now, Alistair,” I said. “There is no way I’ll be sleeping after that dream. I’ll keep watch now.”

“Thank you, Kylara.” He lay down on his bedroll, but then propped himself up on his elbow to look at me. “I really am glad you are all right, and that Flemeth was able to heal you,” he said seriously. “I honestly don’t know what I would have done if you had died.” He stared into the low burning flames of our campfire for a moment, then looked back at me. “I know we haven’t known each other for very long, but... I really feel as though we have something special between us already.”

My heart started pounding in my chest at his words. Was Alistair admitting he had the same kind of feelings I had had earlier, despite the Blight? I had to remember to start breathing again.

“You are a very special woman. You are my fellow Grey Warden, and... my best friend.” He lay back down. “Good night, Kylara.”

 _Friend_. With that one word, my heart suddenly felt like a hard lump in my chest. _Of course he just wants you as a friend_ , my inner voice said. _He knows the two of you have no choice but to fight. There is no time for romance! Stupid, Kylara! Way to get your hopes up_. My eyes closed as hot tears trickled down my cheeks. I wiped them away with a furious swipe of my hand. _That’s what you get for wearing your heart on your sleeve. Well, I will not make the same mistake twice. I’ll be the best damn Grey Warden there is. To the void with love_ , I thought. But deep down, I knew I didn’t really believe that.

 

 _Friend? Why did I say that!_ Alistair bemoaned to himself, as he lay on his bedroll. _Why can’t I admit how I really feel?_ He sighed inwardly _. No. It is far too soon! She couldn’t possibly feel the same way we’ve only just met!_ He just barely opened his eyes and peered through his lashes at me. _Is she... crying? Oh, Maker, I am so STUPID!_ He closed his eyes all the way again. _I must find a way to apologize... but how?_ These thoughts continued to plague him as he drifted off into a troubled sleep.

 


	4. The Journey Continues, A New Friend, and Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylara, Alistair, and Morrigan continue on to Lothering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art of Alistair and Kylara at camp is by the amazing Agregor (https://www.deviantart.com/agregor/)  
> Art of Alistair and Morrigan kindly borrowed with permission by the wonderful AllenVoorEef (http://allenvooreef.tumblr.com)

Morning arrived, grey and cold. We packed up our belongings and buried our campfire ashes with dirt and water. Alistair was standing off in the distance with his eyes closed. After a few moments, he walked back over to Morrigan and me.

“No darkspawn about. We should be all right for now.”

I nodded silently, then asked Morrigan, “How much further to Lothering?”

“If all goes well, then we should arrive in about three more days,” she replied.

Alistair cleared his throat lightly, then said, “Kylara, you can take the lead, and I will bring up the back.” For some reason, I noticed that Alistair seemed to have trouble looking at me this morning. I sighed, picked up my gear and staff, and headed in the direction that Morrigan indicated.

As we walked, I heard banter between Morrigan and Alistair. There seemed to be an underlying tension between the two of them.

“I have a wonder, Alistair, if you will indulge me.” I heard Morrigan ask.

“Do I have a choice?”

“Of the two of you that remain, are you not the senior Grey Warden here? I find it curious that you allow another to lead, while you follow.”

I had wondered that myself.

“You find that curious, do you?” he replied tartly.

“In fact, you defer to a new recruit. Is this a policy of the Grey Wardens? Or simply a personal one?” she continued to prod.

“What do you want to hear? That I prefer to follow? I do. Bad things happen when I lead. We get lost, people die, and the next thing you know... I'm stranded somewhere without any pants."

 _Lacking a bit of self-confidence there, Alistair?_  I thought.

“You sound so very defensive,” she replied sarcastically.

“Couldn't you crawl into a bush somewhere and die? That would be great, thanks.”

A few hours later, they were at it again.

“Have a care where your eyes linger, Alistair.”

Was he looking that closely at her? I had a sudden flash of jealousy. Morrigan was a rather exotic beauty.

“Yes, well don't worry. It's not what you think,” he replied.

“I see...”

“I was looking at your nose,” he said.

_Her nose?_

I heard Morrigan make a strange noise as she asked, “And what is it about my nose that captivates you so?”

“I was just thinking that it looks exactly like your mother's,” he chuckled.

“I think that I look nothing like her!” she practically yelled.

“What?” Alistair exclaimed and started laughing.

About an hour after that...

“You do not truly think I look as my mother does, do you?” Morrigan seemed... hurt.

“Have you really been thinking about that all this time?” Alistair asked with a snicker.

“I am simply curious,” she replied defensively.

“And not insecure in the slightest, I'm sure.”

“Well, I still say that I look nothing like her!” Morrigan responded vehemently.

“I don't know. Give it a few hundred years and it'll be a spot-on match!” Alistair burst out laughing.

I could almost feel the anger burning off of Morrigan as she muttered, “I hate you so much!”

I agreed with Morrigan on that one. Alistair had gone a bit too far, so I turned around and piped up sweetly, “Hey, Alistair?”

“Yes?”

“ZAP! Frog time...”

Alistair got very quiet.

Morrigan’s eyes widened in surprise and she actually had to stifle a giggle. I smiled back at her.

“Mages...” Alistair muttered shaking his head.

 

We set up camp just as the sun was setting. There was a nearby stream, so Alistair said he would go see if he could catch some fish for dinner. Morrigan and I gathered some dry branches and small logs for our campfire. While we gathered, I decided to try and get to know Morrigan better.

“Do you mind if I ask you something?”

She shrugged. “If you must.”

“So, um, did you grow up in the Wilds?”

Her eyes narrowed, and she snapped, “Why do you ask me this? I’m not probing you for pointless information, am I?”

“You could if you wanted to,” I replied softly.

“Hmmph,” she huffed. She put her bundle of wood down and sat on a nearby log. I just stood there for a moment. She then gestured for me to sit as well. I put down my own load of wood and sat next to her.

“So what was it you asked? Did I ‘grow up’ in the Wilds? A curious question. Where else would you picture me?” She blew her bangs off of her forehead began her tale. “For many years, it was just Flemeth and I. The Wilds and its creatures were more real to me than Flemeth’s tales of the world of man. In time, I grew curious. I left the Wilds to explore what lay beyond, but never for long. Brief forays into a civilized wilderness.”

“But you kept going back to the Wilds?” I asked.

“Would you not do the same?” she pushed back. “Your world is an unforgiving and cold place. The Wilds I hail from is home to me and I a natural denizen. For all that I had been taught, however, the truth of the civilized lands proved to be... overwhelming. I was unfamiliar with so much. So confident and bold was I, yet there was so much that Flemeth could not have prepared me for.”

“Very daring. That sounds like you.”

She beamed at the praise and continued. “Equal parts daring and foolhardy perhaps. Only once was I accused of being a Witch of the Wilds, from a Chasind who happened to be traveling with a merchant caravan. He pointed and gasped, and began shouting in his strange language. Most assumed he was casting some kind of curse upon me! I simply acted the terrified girl, and naturally he was arrested.”

“That was quick thinking.”

“Men are always willing to believe two things about a woman. One, that she is weak, and two, that she finds him attractive. I played the weakling and batted my eyelashes at the captain of the guard. Hmm, child’s play. The point being, that I was able to move through human lands fairly easily. Whatever humans think a Witch of the Wilds looks like, ‘tis not I… Not that I didn’t have troubles though. There are things about human society that have always puzzled me. For example, why all the touching for something as simple as a greeting?”

“You mean like a handshake?” I asked.

She nodded. “To begin with, yes. What is the point of touching my hand? I find it an offensive intrusion!”

“Remind me not to shake your hand then,” I smiled.

She gave a small chuckle. “There was a lot of things that Flemeth could never tell me of. When to look into another’s eyes, how to eat at a table, how to bargain without offending. None of these things I knew. I still do not understand it all, truth be told, but then I gave up any hope long ago of ever doing so. When I returned to the Wilds last, I swore to Flemeth that I had no intention of leaving ever again.”

“Well, I am glad it worked out this way, at least.”

She quirked an eyebrow at me. “Yes? Well, let’s just ignore the entire darkspawn threat, and the presence of a simpleton as your only other Grey Warden ally then.”

I must have looked a little hurt at her comment, as she quickly countered it.

“Not that I lack appreciation for the intent of your comment. Thank you.” She stood up, gathered up her bundle of wood and said, “Well, let’s get back to camp before Alistair decides we’ve run off without him... not that I wouldn’t mind that one bit.”

I picked up my wood as well. “He’s not that bad,” I started. Morrigan rolled her eyes.

“Maybe **you** can tolerate him, being a Grey Warden yourself, but I? I could care less if the ground opened up and swallowed him whole.”

I sighed. Guess I was just going to have to live with this for the rest of our journeys together.

 

We got back and set up the campfire. Alistair was still not back, so while we waited, Morrigan made us a simple tea from her herb collection. I played a little guessing game, trying to name the herbs she had used.

“Let’s see, there is definitely mint...” I took another sip. “and chamomile.” She nodded. I sipped again. “Can’t place that last flavor. It’s a bit tart.”

“Rosehips,” she replied.

“Ah, yes! That is it. This is really good, Morrigan.”

Just then Alistair finally returned with some small fish strung together on a stick. “There didn’t seem to be any larger ones in the stream. I wonder if perhaps the larger ones are swimming upstream to avoid the Blight?”

“Or you’re just a lousy fisherman,” Morrigan retorted.

I sighed and gathered the fish from Alistair, who was trying to not look hurt. “It’s all right,” I said. “We will make do.” I put each fish on its own stick and stuck the other ends into the dirt near the fire. “At least they will cook quickly.”

“Perhaps the two of you can survive of a few scraps of meat,” Morrigan said with a displeased tone. “I, on the other hand, need a bit more sustenance. Had it not been for your stew last night, I might think you were trying to starve me.”

“No one ever said this would be easy, Morrigan,” I started to say, but she cut me off.

“No? You forget where I come from? If I can find just about anything edible in the Wilds, I can do the same here! You keep your pathetic little scraps!” She gathered her staff and walked off into the darkness.

Alistair and I watched her go. One thing I had learned rather quickly was to never cross Morrigan.

I sighed and handed Alistair some of the cooked fish. While they were tasty, they only seemed to whet the appetite for more. He and I sat in silence by the fire. Perhaps Morrigan was right.

Suddenly, she reappeared. She had a very large folded leaf in her hand. Without a word, she quickly set up her cooking pot, filled it with some water, and after getting a small knife out of her pack, opened the leaf. Inside were some rather large bullfrogs, some lizards, and a snake. As she quickly butchered them for their meat, I blanched. I had never heard of someone eating those kinds of animals for food. She tossed the meat into her stewpot, slices of the leaf she had brought the animals in, added some herbs, and then let it simmer.

As disgusting as the ingredients were to me, the smells that soon began to waft from the pot suggested otherwise. I started salivating, and I noticed Alistair lick his lips. Morrigan soon helped herself to a bowl. She ate with relish in front of the two of us. My stomach chose to growl rather loudly at that point.

Morrigan looked up at us as she helped herself to another bowl. “What? Your little scrap of a meal wasn’t enough?” The two of us must have looked so pathetic to her, she finally exhaled loudly and said, “Fine! Have some if you must.”

Alistair and I quickly grabbed our bowls and filled them to the brim. One tentative bite was soon followed by the two of us shoveling the meal into our mouths as fast as possible. Morrigan’s eyes rolled as she shook her head. “Seems I have much to teach you about surviving the wilderness, do I not?”

I was about to say something nice but was interrupted by a rather uncouth belch from Alistair.

Morrigan and I stared at him for a few moments before erupting into peals of laughter.

 

Night three on our way to Lothering found me sitting next to a broody Alistair again. All throughout the day Alistair and Morrigan had been having a go at each other. It was painfully obvious that they were never going to get along, but I wished they wouldn’t constantly fight.

Morrigan had already gone to sleep, and I was debating whether I should leave Alistair alone and go to sleep myself, or say something. Finally, I decided to speak.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He looked up at me with unshed tears in his eyes. “You don't have to do that,” he said with sorrow. “I know you didn't know him as long as I did,”

“But that doesn't mean I don't mourn his loss,” I replied. “He stepped in and stood up for me when Greagoir and the Templars wanted to send me away from the Circle. He was a great man.”

Alistair sighed. “I-I should have handled it better. Duncan warned me right from the beginning that this could happen – that any of us could die in battle. I shouldn't have lost it. Not when so much is riding on us. Not with the Blight and... and everything,” He paused. “I'm sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I know he was like a father to you,” I said gently.

“Especially since I never knew my real father.” I waited to see if Alistair would elaborate on that comment further, but instead he said, “I-I’d like to have a proper funeral for Duncan. Maybe once this is all done. If we're still alive. I don't think he had any family to speak of.”

“He had you,” I said.

“I suppose he did.” Alistair gave me a small smile, but it quickly faded. “It probably sounds stupid but part of me wishes I had been with him in the battle. I feel like I abandoned him.”

I shook my head. “He saved our lives by sending us to the tower.”

“Yes, I know. I think he came from Highever, or so he said. Maybe I'll go up there sometime. See about putting something up in his honor. I don't know.”

I leaned on Alistair’s arm and stared at the fire in silence for a moment then said, “May I go to Highever with you, so I may honor him as well?”

“I'd like that. So would he, I am sure,” he said softly. Thank you, Kylara. I mean it. It was good to talk about it, at least a little.”

I was silent for a few moments more, and then in a quiet voice, I spoke again.

“Alistair?”

“Yes?”

“Um, you don’t mind me doing this? Leaning on you?”

“No. I don’t mind.” I heard some nervousness in his voice but didn’t say anything about it. He had enough on his mind.

“Thank you,” I whispered. My mind drifted off, and soon I was asleep. He let me stay there like that for a while, as he gazed down at me.

_Ah, Kylara_ , he thought, _You’ve had the roughest initiation of any Grey Warden I’ve known, and yet I have not heard you complain once. You just soldier on. I must seem like such a poor role model, compared to Duncan. Maker’s Breath, you are incredible! You are so brave and strong... and beautiful. I wish I could tell you these things for real, but my words would just come out clumsy and wrong._ He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Then he very gently scooped me into his arms and carried me to my bedroll.

I didn’t wake as he lay me down. He continued to stare at me softly, and very carefully he brushed a lock of my chestnut hair off of my face. He got up and headed back to his side of the fire.

“What I would give,” he murmured, “to be worthy of someone like you.”

 

Morning arrived as it usually does, but I noticed that the temperatures were not as chilly as they had been in the Wilds. We had to be approaching the Bannorn, the heartland of Ferelden.

I yawned and sat up. It was then that I noticed two things, I was on my bedroll, and Alistair was still sitting by the embers of our fire, but he was asleep.

I got up and gently woke him. “Alistair?”

“Huh? Wha?”

“Alistair, were you trying to keep watch all night? Why didn’t you wake me? Or Morrigan?”

“He’d better not have tried to wake me, if he knows what is good for him,” Morrigan muttered. At my expression of exasperation, she sighed and replied, “I will do my share of watch duty if **you** ask of me.”

“Oh,” Alistair yawned sleepily, “well, you fell asleep next to me last night, so after I put you to bed, I didn’t have the heart to wake you. You just looked so peaceful.”

“I... fell asleep on you?” I remembered our conversation about Duncan last night but didn’t remember much after I had leaned up against him for comfort. “I... I’m sorry. I didn’t mean...”

Alistair shook his head as he got up, “Don’t worry about it. You gave me a great deal of comfort in helping me talk about Duncan last night.”

“Ah. So you've finally decided to stop moping, have you?” Morrigan smirked. “Falling on your blade in grief seemed like too much trouble, I take it?”

“Is my being upset so hard to understand? Have you never lost someone important to you?” Alistair railed at her. “Just what would you do if your mother died?”

“Before or after I stopped laughing?”

“Right... Very creepy. Forget I asked,” Alistair mumbled.

“Please, Morrigan. Leave him alone,” I sighed.

“I guess this is the part where we're shocked to find you've never had a friend you're entire life,” Alistair frowned at Morrigan.

“I can be friendly when I desire, but alas, I just have no desire to be friends with one such as you.”

I rubbed my forehead. “Please, everyone. Let’s just get going. We should get to Lothering by this afternoon.”

Still glaring daggers at each other, Morrigan and Alistair both packed up their gear, and then we headed out.

 

We were on the outskirts of some farms when I heard barking in the distance. There was a trail of dust coming towards us. As it got closer, I could see it was a dog running from something.

“Darkspawn!” Alistair yelled. We gathered our weapons and Morrigan began to chant.

I started in with my offensive spells, freezing a few of them in their tracks. Alistair, the dog, and a wolf charged into the horde. A wolf? Where had it come from?

The battle was quickly over, and I suddenly realized Morrigan was missing.

“Alistair? Have you seen Mor – ” I started to ask when the wolf suddenly shimmered and then Morrigan was back.

I didn’t even have time to register what I had just witnessed, because now the dog was jumping and barking playfully at my feet.

“I think this must be one of the Mabari I helped cure back at Ostagar,” I said, remembering where I'd seen it last.

“It must have been out there looking for you. He's chosen you. Mabari are like that. They call it imprinting,” Alistair explained.

I vaguely remembered the kennel master saying something about that to me.

“Does this mean we will have this mangy beast following us about too? Isn’t having Alistair enough? Wonderful!” Morrigan grumbled.

Alistair was kneeling on the ground rubbing the Mabari on its belly. "He's not mangy,” he said defensively. “Are you, boy? Who’s a good doggy, huh? Yes... you are!”

Morrigan made a sound of utter disgust and stalked off.

“Well, he certainly seems to be wanting to stay. But we can’t call him ‘dog’,” I said.

“Just call it Alistair,” Morrigan quipped. “I doubt either one will know the difference!”

The dog growled in Morrigan’s direction. _That dog_ _ **is**_ _smart_ , I thought and laughed silently. “Hmm. How about... Winston? Do you like that?”

Winston barked and jumped on me, getting his dusty paw prints on my robe.

“Now now, boy. We will have to stop you from doing that!” I admonished.

Winston whined.

“No, I’m not mad at you, but it isn’t polite to jump up on people. Okay?”

He barked happily.

“I’m surrounded by idiots...” Morrigan muttered.

 

So now we were a party of four. Winston trotted next to me in the front, Alistair behind me, and Morrigan in the back.

On the bridge just outside of Lothering, a man walked up to us. On either side of him, other men lounged on the roadway.“Wake up, gentleman!” he shouted. The others slowly stood and moved around to flank us. “More travelers to attend to. Led by a woman, of all things,” he chuckled. My eyes narrowed with dislike and Winston growled.

The man to his left spoke. He looked a bit thick-headed. “Um, boss? Dey don't look like dem others, you know. Uh... maybe we should just let dese ones pass?”

“Nonsense, Hanric!” the leader said before turning back to us. “Greetings, travelers!”

“Highwaymen," Alistair muttered. “Preying on those fleeing the darkspawn I bet.”

“Then they are fools to get in our way,” Morrigan said darkly. “I say we teach them a lesson!” I nodded in agreement.

“Now, now, Is that any way to greet someone?” The highwayman asked, feigning innocence. “A simple ten silvers and you're free to move on!”

“You should listen to your friend,” I said. “We’re not refugees.” Winston growled louder.

“What did I tell you?” Hanric bemoaned. “No wagons... and that doggy is makin’ bad noises at me.”

“The toll applies to everyone, Hanric. That's why it's a toll and not, say, a refugee tax?”

“Oh, right! Even if youse ain’t refugees, youse still gotta pay!”

“He is so dull of wit if I called him a ninnyhammer, he’d probably take it as a compliment!” Morrigan whispered.

“Forget it. We're not paying!” I said firmly.

“Well, I can't say I'm pleased to hear that,” Leader replied. “We have rules, you know!”

“Right. We get to loot your dead body then. Thems the rules,” Hanric chimed in.

“Really?” I scoffed. “You really want to mess with a Mage then?”

“A Mage?!” Hanric panicked. “I don’ wanna be turned into a toad!”

 _Why is it they all think we are going to turn them into a frog or toad?_ I groaned inwardly. _First_   _Alistair, then Daveth, and now this idiot. Is this the reputation we’ve created for_ _ourselves? Well, might as well run with it!_

“Uh, perhaps my good friend Hanric has a point,” Leader stammered. “There is no need for this. We’ll, uh, let you pass... and we, um, will stay right here!”

“So you can rob the next unfortunate soul who happens to wander this way? I think not.” I grabbed my staff and snarled, “Get... out... of... here!”

The bandits’ eyes all widened with fear. “Ye-yes ma’am!” Leader squeaked. “C-come on fellas, the darkspawn can have this place!” They all scattered in a panic. Winston chased after them for a bit, then I whistled for him to return.

“Nicely handled,” Alistair smiled. Then he knelt by one unfortunate soul, who had apparently been killed by those thugs. “A Templar, even. Well, let’s see if we can find out who he was and report it to the Chantry.”

I knelt down by Alistair and gently, with his help, turned the body over. The Templar was clutching something in his fist, so I pried it loose. Out fell a locket and a note. I quickly scanned the note, and then got up and said, “Let’s go.”

 


	5. Helping Lothering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The darkspawn are coming. Will Kylara be able to help the citizens of Lothering before its too late?

We walked down a short ramp from the bridge and before us spread the small town of Lothering.

“Well, here it is. Lothering. Pretty as a painting,” Alistair said.

I suppose it would be a rather pretty little town, had it not been for the sea of refugee tents nearby.

There was a Templar nearby, seemingly guarding the entrance to the town. We approached him.

“You there!” He said loudly. “If you’re looking for safe shelter here, there’s none to be found. Move on, if you can. Lothering is lost.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“We’ve had refugees streaming in from the south for the last two days. The Chantry and the tavern are both full to bursting. There simply isn’t enough food to go around, and we Templars can barely keep order. You’d be better off elsewhere, my friends.”

“I understand, but we are not refugees,” I said calmly. “There are still some merchants in town, yes?”

“Yes, the shops are still open for business, but I don’t know what they might have left.” The Templar sighed. “You can also speak with Elder Mirriam in the village center or Ser Bryant in the Chantry. See if they can help you. Move along now.”

I turned to Alistair. “Should we check the Chantry first?” I asked. “We might find someone who knew the Templar we found.”

He nodded, but Morrigan pulled me aside and said, “Oh no! I am not setting one step closer to any religious tomfoolery. I’ll just wait over there.” She pointed at a nearby stump. “You and... Alistair,” she gritted out his name, “can take care of whatever business you have there, and then come and get me.”

“Fine,” I said. “We shouldn’t be too long.” I looked at my new four-legged companion. “Winston, stay here. They might not want a dog in the Chantry.”

He whined but sat down obediently next to Morrigan.

“Great, “ she muttered. “I get to babysit the mongrel.”

Winston gave a half-hearted growl at her, got up, walked a few meters away, and then sat down again.

“Oh, I actually offended you, ser hound?” Morrigan then realized she was talking to the dog, and quickly pinched the bridge of her nose. “Wonderful...” she mumbled. “Now **I’m** doing it too!”

Winston gave a happy bark at her, and I laughed.

 

Alistair and I headed to the Chantry. Nearby, we heard a Sister and a man arguing with each other.

The man gave the Sister a light shove. “Back off! I have the right to charge whatever I wish!”

She stood her ground. “You are trying to profit from their misfortune!” she cried. “I should have the Templars give away the things in your cart!”

“You wouldn’t dare!” He narrowed his eyes dangerously. “You step too close to my goods, and I’ll – ”

“It’s **so** nice to see everyone working together in a crisis!” Alistair interrupted the argument. “Warms the heart...”

“Oh? You there!” The merchant beckoned to me, and Alistair and I approached. “You look able. Would you care to make a small profit, helping a beleaguered businessman?”

“Why would I want to help you?” I asked.

“Did I not mention a profit?” he replied with a sly smile.

“He is charging outlandish prices for things people desperately need!” the Sister exclaimed. “Their blood is filling his pockets!”

“I have limited supplies!” he retorted. “The people decide what those supplies are worth to them.”

“You bought most of your wares from these very people last week! Now they are fleeing for their lives, and you want to talk business?”

“Look, stranger,” the merchant said matter-of-factly, “I have one hundred silvers if you drive this rabble off, starting with that Priest. I’m an honest man. Nothing more.”

I looked at all of the nearby refugees and the Priest. “You don’t think you’re being a bit unscrupulous?”

“Would it help these folk if they could buy no goods at all?” he asked.

“They spend their very last coin because they are desperate!” the priest pleaded with me. “This man preys upon them as surely as the bandits outside of the city!”

“Bah! I’m done arguing here!” the merchant shouted in frustration. “Drive off this woman and get your one hundred silvers. Otherwise, I’m taking my wagon and leaving!”

“I think that you can compromise, and still make a profit, yes?” I replied diplomatically.

The merchant seemed to think about it, and the said, “Perhaps... If that woman agrees that I am allowed to charge something.”

“Do what you must,” she said softly. “So long as the prices do not beggar the needy.”

“Fine, fine,” he replied quickly. “But for you,” he said as he pointed at me. “Since you don’t look needy, normal prices for you.”

“Thank you for your assistance,” the Priest bowed her head at us. “Maker watch over your path.”

I nodded, then turned back to the merchant and asked to see his goods. I sold him some of the random items we had collected during our travels from the Wilds. He also had several items of interest, but I told him I needed to check around elsewhere before I made my final decisions. He grumbled, but agreed, and set the items that I was looking to potentially purchase aside for short while.

As we walked to the Chantry, I noticed a sign out front with some notices tacked onto it.

“Ah, the Chanter’s board,” Alistair said. With all that is going on, they’re still running that? Now **that** is dedication.”

A man in fancy robes was standing next to the board. He smiled as we approached.“And Eileen spoke unto the masses, my hearth is yours, my bread is yours, my life is yours. For all who walk in sight of the Maker are one.”

“Uh, greetings?” I said with a slightly puzzled look on my face.

He smiled at me again but gave no answer.

“You don’t talk much, do you?” I heard Alistair snigger behind me.

A child standing next to the man spoke to me instead. “He can’t answer you, ma’am. He is Chanter Devons.”

“What’s a ‘Chanter’?” I asked.

“One of them that can only say the Chant of Light,” the boy answered. “His board has letters of good deeds to be doing. My father fixed widow Allison’s roof once, and the Chanter paid him, he did!”

“A learned child is a blessing upon his parents, and onto the Maker,” Chanter Devons said as he glanced at the young boy.

“Ah, so it’s like a vow of silence then? He can’t talk normally?”

“Unless it’s the Chant of Light, no,” the boy replied.

Alistair still seemed to be having a giggle fit at my confusion, so I decided to play my own little joke.

“A Chanter says, ‘What’?”

Chanter Devons looked bewildered and stepped right into it. “What?”

The kid laughed out loud, “Oh! You got him to speak! Ha!”

Chanter Devons quickly recovered with, “Er, what hath man’s sin wrought?”

The kid laughed harder. “Oh, he cheated!”

I walked off, glanced at the board, making note of the ‘good deeds’, and then continued on to the Chantry.

“Oh, you are a wicked little mage, you are,” Alistair laughed quietly. “I can’t believe you just did that!”

I punched Alistair lightly on his arm. “I can’t believe you were laughing at me about it! We had a small Chantry in the Tower, but I had never seen, a ‘Chanter’ or a ‘Chanter’s Board’. Remember, we weren’t allowed outside.”

“I’m sorry,” Alistair apologized. “But you have to admit, it was slightly funny.”

“Maybe just a little...” I smiled back at him.

Inside the Chantry, we found Ser Donall, who knew Alistair from Redcliffe. He was surprised that Alistair was still alive, given what he’d heard about Ostagar. We chatted for a bit, and then I broke the news about the note, the locket, and the dead Templar, Ser Henric.

“Maker’s Mercy,” he said sadly. “Thank you for giving me these. I would never have known otherwise.”

After we left, Ser Donall, we looked around the Chantry’s library for a bit. Then headed back to Morrigan.

She was still sitting where we had left her, and Winston had moved back to Morrigan’s side as well. However, I noticed that Winston had a rather long and curious piece of wood next to him.

I knelt down. “What do you have there boy?”

He barked and nosed the wood close to me.

“Is this for me? Um, thanks?”

Winston barked again.

As my hand got close to the wood, I could feel it almost vibrate with energy. I looked at it again. This was no ordinary piece of wood. It was a staff. I looked at my dog again.

“You didn’t steal this, did you?”

He whined as if to say, _I don’t steal!_

“Well then,” was all I could say. I gently picked up the staff and felt an infusion of power. “Wow,” I breathed.

“What is that?” Alistair asked.

“Um, Winston seems to have found me a new weapon.” I showed it to him.

“Nice,” Alistair commented, looking at the staff with appreciation. “Wonder if he’ll find me anything useful like that...”

“I guess this means I can sell my old staff...” I looked at it with a bit of sadness. I had just earned that staff when I had passed my Harrowing. However, I knew I would need to acquire better armor and weapons sooner or later. The battles would undoubtedly get tougher as time passed.

“Well, if the two of you are quite finished,” Morrigan quipped. “I’d like to know if we going to the tavern? Or shall we sit here twiddling our thumbs until the darkspawn swallow this town and us along with it?”

“You’re right, Morrigan. Let’s get going.”

On our way to the tavern, I had a quick word with Elder Mirriam. She needed some health potions for the sick people in town. I gave her a few that I had in my pack, and then we headed over to The Dane’s Refuge.

Outside the tavern, there was a villager who quickly warned us, “You might not want to go in there...”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Bunch o’ soldiers in there. Givin’ people trouble, they is," the villager mumbled.

“I think we can handle ourselves," I said with confidence.

“Don’ say I didn’t warn you...” He shook his head.

Once we were in the dim and smoky tavern, Alistair suddenly saw what the problem was. “Uh oh, Loghain’s men. This can’t be good.”

“Well, look what we have here men,” their leader gestured towards us. “I think we’ve just been blessed!”

One of the grunts turned to the leader. “Didn't we spend all morning asking about a Mage by this very description?” The leader nodded once. The grunt continued, “...and everyone said they haven't seen one?”

“It seems we were lied to!” the leader growled.

A Chantry Sister walked up at that moment. She had short, bright red hair and despite the robes, she was armed. _An armed Sister?_

__

“Gentlemen,” she said in a thick, exotic accent, “surely there is no need for trouble. These are no doubt simply more poor souls seeking refuge...”

The leader snarled at her. “They are more than that! Now stay out of our way, Sister. You protect these traitors, you'll get the same as them!”

“What makes you think **we** are the traitors?” I said with a bit more anger than intended.

“Teryn Loghain claims that the Grey Wardens betrayed the King - or haven’t you heard?” the Sister told me quietly.

“Enough talk!” the Leader shouted. “Take the Wardens into custody, kill the Sister and anyone else that gets in your way!”

All the patrons and refugees in the tavern dove for cover.

“Right then,” the grunt drew his sword. “Let’s make this quick!”

My new staff seemed to sing in my hands. I quickly cast a freezing charm, halting most of the soldiers in their tracks. I saw Morrigan transform into a wolf again, as Winston and Alistair charged. Surprisingly the Sister also drew her weapon to fight alongside us. Soon the grunts were all dead, and we had captured the leader.

“All right! You’ve won! I surrender!” the leader pleaded with me.

“Good,” the Sister said as she sheathed her daggers. “He’s learned his lesson and we can all stop fighting now.”

“The Grey Wardens did not betray King Cailan!” I announced to all who could hear. “Loghain is the one responsible!”

“You lie!” the leader spat. “I was there! The teryn pulled us out of the trap you set!”

“Listen to me,” I shouted. “The Grey Wardens set no trap! Loghain was supposed to flank the darkspawn, but instead he left us and the King to die!”

“NO!” Leader tried to out-shout me. “You Wardens led the King to his death! The teryn could do nothing!”

I looked the leader in dead in the eyes, my staff at the ready and said, “Take a message to Loghain! Tell him that the Grey Wardens know what really happened and that we are coming for him!”

Leader must have seen something scary in my expression because he suddenly turned white as a sheet. “Y-yes! I’ll tell him! Right away!” he whimpered, as he quickly ran out of the tavern. The patrons and refugees all broke out into cheers and applause. I turned to face my companions. Morrigan gave me a smile and nodded. Winston barked his approval, and Alistair was beaming at me. His smile made my heart flutter in my chest. Then I turned to the Sister, who was waiting patiently.

“I apologize for interfering,” she said to me, her accent thick and rich, “but I couldn't just sit by and not help.”

“I see. Um, where does a Sister learn to fight like you?”

She laughed. “I wasn't born in the Chantry, you know. Many of us had more colorful lives before we joined.” She stuck out her hand in greeting. “Let me introduce myself. I am Leliana, one of the Lay Sisters of the Chantry here in Lothering. Or I was...”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“I joined the Chantry to live a life of religious contemplation. But I am no Priest. Not even an initiate.”

“You can call me Kylara,” I replied warmly.

“Those men said you're a Grey Warden. You will be battling Darkspawn, yes? That is what Grey Wardens do?” I nodded, as she continued. “I know after what happened, you'll need all the help you can get. That's why I'm coming along!”

_Wait... What?_

“So, uh, why so eager to come with us?”

“The Maker told me to!” she exclaimed.

_Okaaaayy..._

“Can you, um... elaborate?”

“I-I know that sounds absolutely insane, but it's true! I had a dream... a vision!” Leliana pleaded for me to understand.

“More crazy?” Alistair quirked an eyebrow at me. “And here I thought we were all full up!”

“Look at the people here,” Leliana gestured. “They are lost in their despair and this darkness. This chaos will spread! The Maker doesn't want this! What you do - what you are meant to do - is the Maker's work. Let me help!”

I was skeptical about her reasons, but she was right. We needed all the help we could get.

“Very well,” I replied slowly. “I will not turn away help when it is offered.”

Morrigan looked at me as though I had suddenly sprouted another head. “Perhaps your skull was cracked worse than Mother thought?”

“Thank you!” Leliana cried in happiness. “I appreciate being given this chance. I will not let you down!”

 

As the five of us made our way through town, we bought some new armor, weapons, and more camping supplies. The Templar had been right though, there really did not seem like there was food to spare. _I am going to have to do something about this,_ I thought. _These people all need a good meal before they have to evacuate._ I began to think of a plan.

At the edge of town, however, I was greeted by a surprising sight. There was a cage with a rather large man inside. Curious, I stepped up to him for a better look. He was tall and muscular, with dark brownish grey skin and flaming red eyes, His white hair was done into tight braids along his head and pulled into a ponytail at the end.

“You are not one of my captors. I have nothing to say that will amuse you. Leave me in peace,” he rumbled in a deep voice.

“You're a prisoner?”

“I'm in a cage, am I not?” he replied sarcastically.

“Who put you here?” I asked.

“I've been placed here by the Chantry.”

Leliana explained, “The Revered Mother said he slaughtered an entire family, even the children.”

“It is as she says,” the man said, not denying it. “I am Sten of the Beresaad, the vanguard of the Qunari peoples.”

“Qunari?” Having been in the Tower for most of my life, I had to admit I had never heard of a Qunari.

“If you haven't heard of us, that is your own shortcoming,” he glared at me. “Though it matters little now. I will die soon enough.”

“I thought all Qunari had big horns on their heads,” Alistair said quietly, but Sten overheard.

“Well, I do not. Is there a problem with that, basra?”

Alistair just shook his head.

Morrigan pulled me aside. “This is a proud and powerful creature, trapped as prey for the darkspawn! If you cannot see a use for him, I suggest releasing him for mercy's sake alone...”

Alistair did a double-take at Morrigan “Mercy? I wouldn't have expected that from you!”

“I would also suggest that Alistair take his place in the cage,” she quickly countered.

“Yes... That's what I would have expected,” Alistair muttered.

Sten was weary of us. “I suggest you leave me to my fate.”

I thought about it. Sten was tall, and no doubt very strong and skilled in battle. “I find myself in need of help,” I told him.

“No doubt. What help do you seek?” he looked at me quizzically.

“I am sworn to defend the land against the Blight,” I replied.

“The Blight? Are you are a Grey Warden then?” Sten asked.

Despite knowing what Loghain was doing – telling all that the Grey Wardens were traitors, I told Sten the truth. “Yes, I am.”

He nodded. “My people have heard legends of the Grey Wardens strength and skill.”

“Do you think that the Revered Mother might let you free?” I asked.

“Perhaps if you told her the Grey Wardens needed my assistance, she might. It seems as likely as to bring my death as waiting here would.”

“Then I leave you for now, Sten.”

“Farewell, then.”

“To be left here to starve or to be taken by the darkspawn,” Leliana said sadly. “No one deserves that, not even a murderer.” We turned away and started to head back to the Chantry.

 

I approached the Revered Mother with Alistair and Leliana with me. Stubborn Morrigan refused to set foot in the Chantry, so once again, she waited outside with Winston.

After donating thirty silver to the Chantry, the Revered Mother asked, “Yes? How may I be of assistance to you today?” She then saw Leliana behind us, who had changed into some leather armor I had bought. “Leliana? I almost didn’t recognize you there! How are you?”

“I am very well, Revered Mother,” Leliana bowed graciously.

I then bowed and approached the Mother. “I have come to ask you about the imprisoned Qunari, Sten.”

She sighed. “It might have been kinder to execute him, but I leave his fate to The Maker. Why does he interest you?”

“Is there any way I could convince you to release him?” I asked.

“So that his next victims might count you and me as their murderers as well?” She shook her head sadly. “I’m not sure that is a good idea.”

“We Grey Wardens could use his help to fight against the Blight,” I started to say, but the Revered Mother gave me a stern look.

“Yes, I head about what happened in the tavern, the ruckus you caused. I suppose I should be glad that you dealt with those soldiers, but I do **not** approve of the violence in which it was handled! I don’t know which of you has the correct story about what happened in Ostagar, but I will not take sides in that matter.”

“I am very sorry, Revered Mother, we did not mean to give you any troubles here,” I apologized.

She saw I was sincere and nodded once. Then she turned to Leliana, “What do you say on this Leliana?”

I wondered if the Mother had heard about Leliana’s involvement with us during the fight in the tavern, or if she just chose to not believe it.

“These are... unusual times, your reverence. With us, the Qunari might do some good. I am sure of it, in fact.”

“With ‘us’? Leliana, are you going to be leaving?” the Mother asked.

“Yes, your reverence. I will also be traveling with the Grey Wardens. I must do my part to help stop the Blight.” Leliana smiled gently.

The Mother was silent for a moment, and then said, “Were things not so desperate…” She then sighed. “Very well, I trust you. Take the key to his cage, and Maker watch over you.”

“Thank you, your reverence. Your trust is not misplaced.” Leliana then handed the key to me.

I bowed graciously again to the Mother, and we all left.

 

I opened the cage. Sten looked astonished.

“I honestly believed she would not be willing to part with it.” He stepped free from the cage. “So it is done. I will follow you into battle. In doing so I shall find my atonement.”

“Glad to have you join us, Sten,” I said. “Come, let us get you some armor and a weapon.”

After outfitting Sten with some splintmail armor and a two-handed sword, he turned to me. “I’ve no objections to the weapon, but must you Fereldens cover your bodies with so much metal for protection?”

“You do not wear armor like this in your homeland?” I asked.

“No,” was his curt reply.

“Well, if you don’t mind my asking, what do you use?”

“Vitaar.” At my look of confusion, Sten sighed. “It is a warpaint we apply to our skin. It is poisonous to other races.”

“Oh,” was all I could say. Sten sighed again and headed out of the village with us. After taking care of the deeds on the Chantry Board and getting our rewards, we headed out to a small lake area west of the town proper. We set up a small camp for ourselves, and then I then gathered our group together and explained what I intended to do for the village and the refugees.

“There is likely still some game in the forest south of Lothering, so Sten and Leliana, if you can find some deer we can bring them back here and butcher them for food.”

“I am no hunter, bas saarebas,” Sten glowered.

“No, I was hoping Leliana could shoot them with her new bow, and that we might borrow your strength to bring the game back to the village,” I explained

Sten grunted, whether in approval or disapproval, I couldn't tell.

“About how many refugees would you say are here?” I asked Leliana.

“Probably close to two hundred,” she said after thinking about it. “Plus the regular townsfolk and the people in the Chantry, I am guessing that is about another fifty people.”

“So we will probably need at least three, possibly four good size bucks. If there are some villagers or farmers who have some grains, potatoes, or other root vegetables, we can stretch it out even further. Alistair, if you could go and check with the villagers, and also get some of them to gather enough wood for some bonfires...”

He nodded.

“So you plan on us staying here and cooking to feed a bunch of people, instead of doing what we must?” Morrigan said with a disapproving look.

“I agree,” Sten said. “What is the point of this meaningless exercise?”

“We need to get these people evacuated before the Blight comes. This town is in the direct path of the oncoming horde.” I calmly explained. “I figured with at least one good meal in their bellies, we might be able to help get them on the road, come the morning.”

Morrigan and Sten clearly were not convinced, but both grudgingly agreed to help.

 

Leliana, Winston, and Sten left at dusk to hunt. In what seemed to be only a short time later, Leliana came running back to me.

“We got very lucky! Your dog flushed some deer out and I shot three. Sten is bringing them back here as we speak.”

Alistair then gathered up some of the villagers and told them what was going on. They were very surprised by this, and quickly the word spread. Farmers rounded up what little they had left in their larders. Bonfires were quickly built, kettles and stewpots were brought out. Villagers who knew how to butcher went out to the forest where the game was and brought the meat back to the village center. Soon everything was cooking. Hungry refugees all gathered around. Word spread to the Chantry, and the Revered Mother came out to speak with me.

“I… I am not sure what to say about this,” she began. “I have to admit that I am humbled by this generosity.”

“The Grey Wardens are here to help, Revered Mother. This is our duty. I must now speak with all of the available Templars while we wait for the meal to be finished. I will need their assistance in helping to plan the evacuation for the morning.”

She quickly nodded and sent one of the Priests to fetch the Templars. Once I had briefed Ser Bryant and the other Templars on their duties for the morning, the meal was ready. We got all the villagers and refugees lined up and the Revered Mother blessed the meal. Food was dished out. Several loaves of bread had been quickly baked. There were kettles of beans and greens; potatoes and root vegetables had roasted over the coals. The two younger bucks had been spit-roasted, and the older tougher buck had been made into a stew.

Since everyone worked together there was a surprising amount of food to go around. Not one person went without. The bartender of the tavern brought up the few remaining kegs of beer from his cellar. Musicians brought out their instruments and Leliana sang. It became a very festive evening.

Once the food was finished, and the festivities died down. Villagers and refugees all headed back to their homes and tents to pack for the upcoming evacuation, and then sleep.

Morrigan and Leliana were having a quiet yet heated debate about faith, or more to the point, Morrigan not having any in Leliana’s view. Sten had already headed back to our small campsite by the lake with Winston. This left Alistair and me sitting on a log next to each other. I had had a few pints of beer, my first time ever enjoying the beverage, and I was feeling pretty good.

Alistair put his arm around me and gave me a brief hug, then turned to me. “This was amazing, what you did,” he said with a big smile. “You organized everything so quickly, and now we will be able to get everyone out of town before the horde gets here. I am so proud of you, Kylara.” His eyes turned a little sad as he said, “Duncan chose very well in making you a Grey Warden...”

I stared into Alistair’s handsome face and said, “I wuz glad to helph...” _Why does my voice sound so fuzzy?_

“So I was just wondering,” Alistair asked, “have you had any other dreams lately?”

I wobbled slightly on the log, before blurting out, “You mean like me making mad passionate love to you?”

“. . .”

There was a look of shock on both Morrigan and Leliana’s faces as they happened to overhear me.

Once my brain registered what my mouth had said, my face flushed bright red. I quickly put my hand to my mouth and mumbled, “OhIamsosorryIhavenoideawhyIsaidthat!”

I staggered as I got off the log and ran stumbling away from Alistair as quickly as I could.

In the darkness, I tripped and fell. Getting up to my knees, I sat there utterly mortified. Tears ran down my cheeks. Had the drink had something to do with my runaway mouth? _What must Alistair be thinking of me! I had done so well earlier, and now I look the total fool! I’ll never be able to face him again!_ Just then, I head a sound behind me. Without looking, I realized it was Alistair and another wave of humiliation washed over me. He didn’t say anything, but instead helped me to my feet and walked me carefully back to our camp. Since we were getting to be a larger party now, we had separated our bedrolls into two separate camps. He quietly got me to lay down on my bedroll. I couldn’t see his expression in the dark, but I felt him softly caress the side of my face. Then he got up and headed back over to the men’s side of our camp.

I didn’t know what to make of his gentle touch. Was he trying to tell me something that he couldn’t express with words? I was still horribly embarrassed by my earlier behavior. Then I heard Leliana come into our part of the camp.

“Kylara? Are you all right?” she asked quietly.

I sat up slowly. “Yes, I... No, not really,” I mumbled.

She sat next to me. “Look, I know we’ve just met, but I am here if you want to talk.”

I started crying again, but softly. “I made such a fool of myself tonight!”

She gently put her arms around me and rocked me to and fro, as though I were a small child. “Shh, it’s okay dear. We all say silly things when we are drunk. I am sure it will all blow over in the morning.”

“So it was the drink,” I muttered. “I won’t touch the stuff ever again.”

She gave a light, musical-sounding laugh. “Oh no, I wouldn’t blame it all on the beer. Alistair is rather handsome, I will agree.” She sat quietly with me for a few minutes, then asked, “You have feelings for him, no?”

“I...” I hesitated to answer at first, but then I ended up telling her the whole story. How we had first met, the Joining, the battle at Ostagar, losing Duncan, my near death from Loghain’s betrayal, Flemeth healing us, and our journey from the Wilds to Lothering. I then finished off saying, “...but since we are both Grey Wardens and we have to battle the Blight, I think he just wants to be m-my friend. He said as much to me one evening...”

Leliana had listened to my tale in silence, but then said, “I am not entirely sure about that.” She paused for a moment as if unsure what to say next. She took a breath and then asked, “Are you aware that your eyes flash almost a silvery-blue color with strong emotion?”

“They do?”

“Yes, they were very brilliant when you told that guard in the tavern your message to Loghain.”

“I thought maybe it was unique only to Alistair,” I said softly. _So now my eyes change as well?_  “But his eyes only change when darkspawn are near.”

“Oh no, dear. That is not so,” Leliana stated.

“What?”

“His eyes were glowing right after you left him earlier.”

 

Dawn. We all awoke and got our stuff packed quickly. Even finding out from Leliana about Alistair, I still couldn’t bring myself to look at him. I kept myself busy with getting everything organized.

Once we had all of our gear packed and placed by the western road out of Lothering, I ran over to the village to see how things were going with their preparations. Most of the village was up and busy finishing packing their belonging. The Templars were organizing groups of villagers and refugees based on the directions on where they wanted to go. Some would head west, towards areas like Redcliffe and the towns along Lake Calenhad. Some were heading north across the Bannorn to towns along the Waking Sea. Most, it seemed, were heading east towards the capital city of Denerim. The Revered Mother, Priests, Sisters and all of the Templars were going that way once everyone else had gone. They were also taking any orphaned children with them as well.

As people were leaving our group received many generous donations. Some armor, a few weapons, clothing, and other useful items. We even got some tents that refugees did not want to take with them. All of the villagers and refugees kept thanking us as they left. Within the span of three hours only the Chantry folk were left and shortly after that, they were gone too.

Many villagers had been sad to leave, but I had at least tried to reassure them that once it was all over, one way or another, that Lothering could possibly be rebuilt. Some of them seemed to take comfort in that small notion, although Morrigan thought I should not give them false hopes.

Lothering was now a ghost town. Our group headed west along the road, picked up our belongings and headed out.

 


	6. Journey to the West

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lothering was spared and Kylara has two new companions! But now a choice... head to Redcliffe, or go back north to the Circle Tower?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adorable art of Leliana laughing at an embarrassed Alistair by Lúa (https://www.deviantart.com/starsandskies-art)

We all headed west. Alistair wanted us to go see Arl Eamon in Redcliffe, but something was suddenly telling me that we needed to head north, back to the Circle Tower. I couldn’t explain why I felt this urgency, but something was telling me there was terrible trouble there. When we finally got to the crossroads where we could continue west to Redcliffe, or start heading northwest to the Lake Calenhad coast, I finally told them what I was feeling.

“We need to go to the Circle Tower first.”

Alistair stopped and looked at me. I couldn’t read his expression. “Why? Shouldn’t we go to the arl first? We need his support to help the fight against Loghain.”

“I can’t explain it, but something is wrong out there,” I said.

“Are you sure ‘tis not homesickness for your old life you feel?” Morrigan asked.

“No. I feel real danger coming from that direction. Besides, the Mages of the Circle are one of the treaties we have. Please...” I looked at the rest of the group earnestly.

“Well, the two roads do travel in parallel with each other for awhile yet,” Alistair said. “Do you mind if we keep to the southern road for a bit, Kylara? Once we pass the Lake Caeron, there is a narrow portion of the Drakon River we can cross to shortcut back to the northern road. If you are still feeling that the Circle comes first, we can then head north. I just really want to get to Arl Eamon first.”

So we kept to the southern road, and then as the sun set, we made camp on the very eastern shore of Lake Caeron. We still separated into two camps, but Morrigan did not want to sleep near Leliana, so she set up her bedroll off by itself. Lake Caeron was teeming with fish. While Alistair used a spear to catch some, Morrigan found some edible plants, and Leliana managed to shoot a few waterfowl down with her bow, which Winston fetched from the lake.

After a filling meal, I heard Alistair and Leliana talking about life in the Chantry.

Alistair was being his usual jovial self.

“So, let me get this straight. You were a Cloistered Sister?” he asked Leliana.

She nodded. “But you must have been a Brother before you became a Templar, no?”

“I never actually became a Templar,” he responded. “I was recruited into the Grey Wardens before I was to take my final vows.”

“Do you ever regret leaving the Chantry?” she queried.

Alistair shook his head. “No, never. Do you?”

Leliana sighed. “Yes. You may not believe it, but I found peace there. The kind of peace I've never known.”

“It used to get so quiet at the monastery that I would start screaming until one of the Brothers came running,” Alistair said, grinning. “I would tell them that I was just checking. You never know, right?”

Leliana looked shocked. “I... no, I never did anything like that. I enjoyed the quiet.”

“Really? The look on their faces was always priceless!” Alistair laughed.

“Did anyone besides yourself think you were funny there?” she asked.

“Yes,” Alistair said, still grinning. “Only one of the old Sisters at the monastery used to never laugh at my jokes. No matter how hard I tried, she’d just glare at me and then rap me with her cane.”

“Was she hard of hearing?”

“Not a chance! That biddy could hear you close your eyes from around a corner. She just hated me.”

“Perhaps you should not have made so many jokes then?” Leliana admonished. “There is a time and place for certain behaviors.”

I heard Sten sigh and mutter something in his native tongue. He then got up and wandered off.

I decided to follow him. He stopped by the edge of the lake. “Sten?” I asked politely, “Do you mind if I ask you some questions?”

He just stared at me, with those odd red eyes of his.

“It’s just that... we are working together. I just thought I should get to know you.”

“There are darkspawn to be fought,” he replied gruffly. “Why are we moving away from them?”

“You think we should have stayed in Lothering?” I had to ask.

“Yes,” was all he said.

“Well, as Grey Wardens, Alistair and I need to build up and army. We have recruitment treaties that were signed by mages, dwarves, and elves. They will help us during this Blight,” I explained.

“I see,” Sten said. “And once you have this army, you will then fight the archdemon?”

“Well,” I swallowed nervously. “It may not go quite that easily, but that is the general plan.”

“Parshaara. We waste time with this... frivolity.”

“What is wrong with wanting to get to know my companions? I need to know I can trust you at my back,” I said, rather boldly.

Sten glowered but answered me. “I gave you my word. I do not make idle promises. That is not the way of my people.”

“I’ve never met a Qunari before. Can you tell me about your people?” I asked.

“No.”

I was taken aback by that abrupt answer, but I let it go. “Um, you said you were in the army?”

“I am.”

_The strong and silent type, I see..._

“Have you ever fought in a war?” I asked.

“I have always fought in wars, human. My people have been at war since we set foot in the northern isles.”

“So Qunari do not come from the islands?”

“We do now,” he replied, then he turned away from me. “I have answered enough of your questions. Leave me be.”

 

I left Sten and made my way back through the camps. Perhaps Morrigan would be feeling more chatty, I thought. As I passed by, I had noticed Alistair and Leliana had been huddled together talking quietly but they stopped when they saw me. Well now, that was… awkward. I shrugged and continued on to where Morrigan had set up her camp.

 After I had walked past them, Alistair turned back to Leliana. She had a smile on her face at his expression.

“You like her, don’t you?” she asked.

“What?!” Alistair sputtered. “No! I mean, yes. Er... Well, she’s our leader. I respect her and...” He sighed. “It’s that obvious?”

“So why not just tell her?”

“Well, we’ve only known each other for a little while and I respect her as my fellow Gray Warden.”

“Sounds like you are just making excuses, Alistair,” Leliana scolded.

“So, you're female, Leliana, right?”

She gave him an odd look. “Last time I checked, yes.”

“Well, I just wanted some advice. What should I do if I think a woman is special and – ”

“You want to woo her? Here's a good tip: you shouldn't question her about her female-ness,” Leliana sighed.

Alistair suddenly found his boots to be really interesting. “All right, yes. Good point.”

“Why do you ask? Are you afraid things will not proceed naturally?”

“Why would they?”Alistair moaned. “Especially when I do stupid things like ask women if they're female!”

“It adds to your charm, Alistair,” she smiled at him. “You are a little awkward. It is endearing... and cute.”

“But, she can’t possibly be feeling what I am. Er, I mean... do **you** think she likes me?”

“I’d say her comment to you last night makes that a bit obvious, don’t you?”

“She was not herself though...” He sighed. “So I can’t really be sure.”

“Talk to her. Just be yourself. Give her a gift. Make her laugh,” Leliana prompted. “Most women like a guy who can make her laugh.”

“But there’s the Blight. We have a lot of work to do.”

“You can’t go around being serious all the time. A little laughter, a little fun, at the right time, can help to ease tension,” she said wisely. “Do we have an important job? Yes, but if we don’t relax when we can, it could tear us apart. We could lose faith and trust in each other... and that would let the darkspawn win.”

Alistair didn’t know what to say in response to that.

 

I made my way over to Morrigan’s campsite. She didn’t seem upset at my approach, so I took that as a good sign.

“Evening, Morrigan. Are you doing all right out here by yourself?”

“I thought Alistair was insufferable enough, but this Leliana...” she sighed. “Just because I don’t believe in some hokey absentee father-figure in the sky.”

“We all have different beliefs. While most people do believe in the Maker to some extent, they should still respect what you believe,” I said.

Morrigan looked surprised and somewhat pleased with what I just said. “Thank you, Kylara. Truly. Though it seems ‘tis only you that really understands me.”

“Perhaps it is because we are both mages?”

“’Tis true we share that as a common bond, but our magic is very different. Flemeth taught me many forms of magic in the Wilds, while you had regimented, restricted studies on very few types of it in your Circle.” I nodded. That was very true. She continued. “And you had those Templars constantly breathing down your necks, making sure you took no steps out of line! I could never have lived that way!”

I had to admit, part of me as a little envious of her freedom, but I did have many fond memories of my Circle life as well.

“It wasn’t all bad,” I replied. “Strict, yes. But there were a lot of times we had fun. You should have seen some of the pranks we pulled on each other!” I smiled. “There was also one Templar, Cullen, who was actually much nicer than the others. He had quite the sense of humor himself and he used to let us apprentices get away with a lot of mischief. He’d stand outside, pretending to guard us, but it was to usually to warn us if someone else was coming that would spoil the fun.” I sighed. “I miss them... my friends. I wonder how they are doing?”

“You still sense danger, don’t you?” Morrigan asked.

“I wish I could make the rest of the group understand. There is something happening there. I can’t see what it is, but I **know** something is not right.”

“Well, you will just have to find a way to convince them,” she replied.

I sighed. Easier said than done.

Morrigan yawned. “Was there anything else you wanted to talk about, or shall we see about getting some sleep?”

“Actually Morrigan, there was something else.” I heard her sigh. “I won’t take long, but I had to ask. During one of our earlier battles, I saw you become a wolf. How did you do that?”

“’Tis a shapeshifting ability, nothing more,” she said simply.

“How did you become a shapeshifter?”

“You really want to know? Now?” she asked. I nodded. “Oh, very well.” She sighed again. “I was not born as such. ‘Tis a skill of Flemeth’s. She taught me how to do it over many, many years in the Wilds. The Chasind have tales of witches like Flemeth, saying that they assume the forms of creatures to watch them from afar... and then when a child of the Chasind is alone and separate from his tribe, that is when the witches strike! Dragging the young boy back to their lair to be devoured. A most amusing legend.”

“Your mother has been doing this for a long time then?” I asked.

Morrigan chuckled. “Changing her form, certainly. Devouring lost children, I cannot say. She never did such in my presence... Though in truth, my lifespan is but a fraction of her own. Is there something else you wish to know?”

“When you transformed yourself, did you spend a lot of time as an animal?”

Her eyes closed as she seemed to think back. “’Tis true, there were nights when the Wilds did call to me.” She looked at me seriously. “You look upon the world around you and think you know it well. I have smelled it as a wolf; listened to it as a cat. I have prowled shadows you never dreamed existed. But my life is as a human... I am under no illusions to the contrary.”

“What did other animals think of you when you were changed?” I asked, curious.

“They did not shy away from me. To their senses, I seemed like any other of their species. As to what they might ‘think’, I cannot truly say. Just as I am still human, no matter my form, they are still just animals. Thus they could not speak even were I to ask.”

“I wonder why the Circle does not teach magic such as that.” I frowned. “It seems abilities like this could be super useful.”

Morrigan nodded. “The zealots of your Chantry would truly love to uproot all such old forms of magic and stamp out practitioners, such as my mother and I, if they could.”

“That is horrible. I feel such traditions should be preserved!” Morrigan looked pleased, so I then asked, “Could I learn how to be a shapeshifter?”

“With sufficient willpower, you could. The act of transformation is a magical one. Indeed, you could learn the spells required... if I wanted to teach you, that is.”

“Would you be willing?” I asked hopefully. The thought of possibly learning new magics excited me.

“I would have to think on it,” she replied.

I tamped down my disappointment. Hopefully, I would be able to convince her to teach me.

 

Morrigan finally shooed me from her camp. I made my way back to my bedroll and saw that Alistair was gone, but Leliana was still up. She greeted me as I returned.

“Did you have a nice chat with Morrigan?” she asked as I approached.

“I did, actually. But I have a question for you if you don’t mind.”

“No, I don’t mind,” she said.

“Do you think you might have been a little hard on Morrigan? She was not raised in the traditional manner, such as you or I probably were.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you were born in a city or village, yes?” Leliana nodded, so I continued. “As was I, before I moved to the Circle Tower.”

“What does that have to do with Morrigan?” she asked.

“Like many others, I was raised with the belief of the Maker. You as well, am I correct?”

Again, Leliana nodded.

“Morrigan was not brought up like us. She was brought up by her mother Flemeth in the Wilds, so she does not – ”

“Wait, did you say her mother... is Flemeth?” Leliana gasped.

“Yes. At least that is how she introduced herself to us after we were rescued from Ostagar. Why?”

“There is a legend surrounding Flemeth. It is quite a tale. Have you heard of it?” Leliana asked.

“I only know that everyone seems to call her the Witch of the Wilds.”

“Well, let me tell you the Legend of Flemeth,” Leliana said. I sat back to listen.

“Ages ago, legend says Bann Conobar took to wife a beautiful young woman who harbored a secret talent for magic: Flemeth of Highever. For a time they lived happily, until the arrival of a young poet, Osen, who captured Flemeth's heart with his verse.

“Osen and Flemeth ran off together and they turned to the Chasind tribes for help. They hid from Conobar's wrath in the Wilds. There they lived in happiness for many years until word came to Flemeth that Conobar lay dying. Conobar had one last wish. He wanted to see Flemeth's face one final time.

“Feeling sorry for Conobar the lovers returned, but it was a trap. Conobar killed Osen and then imprisoned Flemeth in the highest tower of the castle. In her grief and rage, Flemeth worked a spell to summon a spirit into this world to wreak vengeance upon her husband. Vengeance, she received, but not as she planned. The spirit took possession of her, turning Flemeth into an abomination. A twisted, maddened creature, she slaughtered Conobar and all his men and fled back into the Wilds.

“For a hundred years, Flemeth plotted, stealing men from the Chasind to sire monstrous daughters: Horrific things that could kill a man with fear. These Korcari witches were later said to be defeated by the hero Cormac. All the witches burned, so they say. But even now the Wilders whisper that Flemeth lives on in the marsh, and she and her daughters steal those men who come too near.”

Tale finished, I almost wanted to applaud, for Leliana had told the story so well. I thanked her for the story, but then said, “This is just a legend, though. If it were true, Flemeth would have to be hundreds of years old. The Flemeth I met couldn’t have been more than sixty years, and there was only Morrigan as her daughter. There was no horde of witches there. Perhaps it is just a coincidence that they have the same name?”

Leliana thought about what I had said. “Perhaps... Or maybe this Flemeth is indeed the one of the legend and she is just being more careful?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. But the point I was trying to make earlier is that Morrigan was raised differently from us. All I ask is that we should all try and respect her beliefs, no matter how different they may seem to our own.”

“You do make a valid point. Very well, I will try and not annoy Morrigan... too much,” she said. Leliana then yawned. “We should all get to sleep. Morning will come soon, and we still have to travel far.”

I nodded and curled up on my side. Soon I was asleep.

 


	7. Danger in the North

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylara was able to convince Alistair and the rest to head north, back to the Circle. What will await them when they arrive?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Amazing art of Alistair and the rose, again very kindly borrowed with her permission, here is by the very talented AllenVoorEef (http://allenvooreef.tumblr.com/)  
> Fun art of Kylara and Morrigan is by extraordinary Pooky! (http://pookyhuntress.tumblr.com/) ^_^

For the next two days, we continued on the southern road, still heading west towards Redcliffe, but my feelings of disquiet about the Circle still continued to grow. I was so deep in my own thoughts that I almost didn’t hear the cries for help coming from ahead of us.

“Darkspawn!” I heard Alistair yell out. I shook myself out of my brooding thoughts and reached for my staff. Sten grabbed his greatsword, and Leliana, her bow. I saw Winston rush ahead into the fray.

Ahead on the road were two dwarf merchants, their cart tipped over and boxes of merchandise scattered. Various darkspawn were edging closer to them. One older male dwarf was trying to brandish a stick at the oncoming genlocks and hurlocks, while a younger male dwarf was cowering behind the first.

Morrigan transformed and joined Winston in pulling down a hurlock. Winston then tore its throat out. Leliana quickly shot two genlocks, while Sten sliced the head of an alpha hurlock clean off. I quickly cast a lightning storm, being careful to only aim at the horde. Alistair used his shield to bash another genlock to the ground and then stabbed it in the chest with his sword.

Soon the darkspawn were all dead. I felt it, as well as seeing Alistair’s eyes go back to their normal warm hazel brown. Still part of me wondered if my eyes changed like his did. I had no mirror to see, I only had Leliana’s word on it.

We all worked together and pulled the dead darkspawn off of the road. Then Alistair and I approached the two dwarves.

“Mighty timely arrival there, friends,” the older of the two spoke. “We are much obliged. My name is Bodahn Feddic, and this here’s me son, Sandal.” he turned to his son. “Say hello, me boy.”

“Hello...” I could hear in Sandal’s voice that there was something a bit off, but I ignored it.

“Hello,” I replied, greeting them both.

“Road’s been mighty dangerous lately,” Bodahn said as he glanced at his scattered merchandise and the dead darkspawn. “So, mind if I ask what brings you out here? Perhaps we are heading the same way?”

Alistair and I spoke at the same time.

“Redcliffe.”

“The Circle Tower.”

Alistair glanced at me curiously, but then cleared his throat and faced Bodahn. “We are Grey Wardens and we are on our way to Redcliffe to see Arl Eamon.”

“Grey Wardens, huh? Well, that does rather explain a lot,” he replied, again glancing at the darkspawn corpses. “Hrm, but I suspect that there’s more excitement on your path than me boy and I can take.”

“Do you need any help?” I asked indicating the scattered merchandise.

“Ah no, it’s nothing we can’t handle. But thanks for the offer!” He turned to his son. “C’mon Sandal, me boy. Go and find that mule that ran off, would you?”

“Okay!” Sandal yelled cheerily.

“Farewell, and good fortune to you all,” Bodahn said.

I waved goodbye to them, and our group started heading west along the road again. After traveling in silence for about fifteen minutes, Alistair then stopped and turned to me.

“What exactly do you sense is going on at the Tower?” he asked me. “You just keep saying you feel danger, but you offer nothing specific.”

“I...” I started to say, but to my surprise, Morrigan suddenly spoke.

“I feel this danger too. ‘Tis something we really should investigate, right away.”

“But you aren’t from the Circle. You are an apostate.” Alistair’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What connection would you feel?”

“I am still a mage, am I not?” Morrigan glared at Alistair. “We can feel magic within our very being. I may not sense this danger as strongly as her, but I believe her.”

Alistair seemed to be thinking about it. Leliana then spoke up.

“Kylara has been rather preoccupied since we left Lothering. Maybe there is something she can sense. Perhaps we should go north.”

Winston barked and sat down next to me. Alistair then looked over at Sten.

“I have no opinion here,” he spoke in his deep voice. “So long as we battle the darkspawn, I am satisfied.”

Alistair sighed. “Very well, I will trust you, Kylara. We will go see what is going on at the Tower, so long as we go see Arl Eamon afterwards.”

I nodded.

“All right then,” Alistair said. “Should be just about an hours walk west, and then we should be able to cross the Drakon.”

 

True to his word, the Drakon was a narrow, ankle-deep, bubbling brook that we were able to cross easily. Ten minutes after crossing the stream, we came upon a vast clearing surrounded by trees. Alistair looked around appreciatively.

“This will be a good place to set up a more permanent campsite for the time being,” he said. “That way, we can stop hauling around these heavy tents that the refugees of Lothering gave us.”

I agreed. It was a very pretty area, and we would have close access to the roads we would need for both the Tower and Redcliffe, as well as other areas we might need to go. Working together, we set up the tents provided. There was four tents in total, and while they were large enough to hold two people in each, Sten and Morrigan both decided to still sleep in the open. So Alistair, Leliana, and I each took one. We left the last one empty.

Alistair then took an axe and started chopping down small trees for firewood. I unpacked all non-essential gear and organized it, placing it in the unused tent for the time being. Then I decided to go and explore the area a bit more.

About five minutes north of our camp, I found several spring fed ponds amidst a group of trees. I knelt and tasted the water. It was cool and refreshing. Right then, I decided one would be kept as a source of drinking water, and I could use one of the other ones to bathe in. Bathing was a luxury I sorely missed from my days in the Tower. While we had been able to find streams and other freshwater to clean ourselves with while on the road, I still felt a bit grungy. I made a mental note to myself to come back here later when it was dark.

 

After our evening meal in camp, I started to walk off towards the direction of the springs when Alistair stopped me.

“Um, Kylara? Do you have a moment?” he asked.

I nodded. “Sure, Alistair. What’s on your mind?”

He seemed a little nervous as he brought out something from behind his back. “Here.” He held out a beautiful rose.

I looked at it and my heart started thumping in my chest. “It’s... lovely.”

He sighed and said softly, “I picked it in Lothering. I remember thinking how could something so beautiful exist in a place that had so much despair. I probably should have left it alone, but I couldn’t. The darkspawn were coming and their taint would have just destroyed it.” He gave me a small smile. “So I’ve had it ever since.”

“That is a lovely sentiment,” I said as I sniffed the blossom. It had a heady fragrance. I was amazed that he had kept it all this time without my noticing.

“I thought that I might... give it to you.” He then handed me the blossom. “In a lot of ways, I think the same thing when I look at you.”

“Thank you, Alistair. That is a lovely thought.” I said as my eyes got a bit misty.

“I was just thinking,” he sighed again, and his eyes began to glow slightly. “Here I am doing all this complaining... and you haven’t exactly been having a good time of it yourself. You’ve had none of the good experiences of being a Grey Warden since your Joining. Not a word of thanks or congratulations... it’s all been fighting and death and tragedy. I thought I could say something. Tell you what a rare and wonderful thing you are to find amidst all this... darkness.” He turned to walk away.

“Alistair?”

He slowly turned back to me. “Yes?”

“I-I feel the same way... about you.”

He smiled. “I’m glad you like it.” His smile then faded a bit, and I could see he was getting a little nervous again. He looked at his feet and said quietly, “Now if we could... um, move right on past this awkward embarrassing stage and get right to the steamy bits, I’d appreciate it.”

Part of me thought he had to be joking, so I decided to play along. “Sounds good. Off with the clothes then!”

He laughed, albeit shakily, and then said, “Bluff called! Damn, she saw right through me!”

I dropped my voice to a sultry pitch. “Does it have to be a bluff?”

He chewed his bottom lip for a moment and then said slowly, “Well, I suppose it doesn’t have to be a bluff...” He trailed off softly. “I mean... we are in camp... and the tents are right over there. That is true.”

I smiled. “You’re so cute when you’re bashful.”

He breathed a quick sigh of relief and said, “I’ll be, um... standing right over there. Until the blushing stops. Just to be safe. You know how it is...”

 

I turned and started walking off towards the springs, holding Alistair’s rose in my hand. Part of me felt a little bad about teasing him, especially when he had finally admitted that he did have feelings for me. I was so happy and my heart felt light. I couldn’t stop smiling. I looked at the rose again. _I know just what I am going to do with this,_ I thought.

 

After Alistair’s heart stopped hammering in his chest, he cleared his throat and murmured to himself, “Well now, that wasn’t so bad. Leliana was right. I just had to be myself with her.” He smiled and closed his eyes. _And to think, she does have feeling_ _s_ _for me as well!_ He opened his eyes and then noticed I was disappearing into the trees. _Where is she going?_  he wondered. _I’d better follow... just to make sure she stays safe, of course._ He waited until I was far enough ahead, and then quietly followed.

 

Morrigan had watched the exchange between Alistair and me from her camp. _‘Tis a sickening display of emotions,_ she thought. _But he does seem to make her happy... though I will probably never figure out why._ She then also noticed my departure, and that Alistair was following me. _Now, where are they off to?_

 

Alistair saw me approach a small group of springs. He was amazed that such a place existed, and close to camp as well. The whole area around the springs had some type of luminescent lichen growing in patches on the trees and rocks, lighting up the area with a soft glow. As he stopped by a group of trees to keep himself hidden from my view, a cat jumped up onto a thick branch above him.

 

 _First things first,_ I thought. I carefully lay Alistair’s rose on a nearby rock. Then I concentrated until controlled flames covered my fists. I knelt down to one of the pools and inserted my hands. The water began to bubble and steam around my hands.

 

 _Amazing!_ Alistair thought. _I knew she was a powerful mage, but I had no idea!_

A soft voice whispered from above. “What are you doing, I wonder?”

Alistair nearly jumped out of his skin. “Who? What?” he said quietly, He looked up and saw Morrigan lounging on a tree branch with a sly smile on her face. “Oh...” he frowned. “What do **you** want?”

“I am merely wondering why you are spying on our fearless leader. Are you hoping to see something illicit?”

Alistair cleared his throat gently and whispered, “I was just curious as to where she was going, that is all.”

“So now you know... and yet here you still are,” Morrigan chuckled.

“Why are you here, then? To pester me?”

“No. I too was curious about where she was going, and why you were following.” Morrigan replied. “So now that we are here, why not stay and see what she does?”

 

Once I finally felt I had a comfortable temperature, I withdrew my hands from the water. Earlier today, I had been happy to find some soaproot plants growing nearby. I used my limited alchemy skills to make it into a foamy concoction I would use on my skin and hair. I took the flask out of a pocket in my robe and uncorked it. Then I picked up Alistair’s rose.

 

“What is she doing?” Alistair murmured quietly.

“I do not know,” Morrigan shrugged. “Why ask me? ‘Tis better to just watch her. I am sure we will soon see.”

 

I plucked off one petal from the rose and dropped it into the flask with the soaproot mixture. The mixture turned light pink and smelled exactly like the rose. I smiled. Then I took the rest of the blossom and crushed it in my fist.

 

Alistair winced when he saw me crush the blossom.

“Oh, seems perhaps she may not have liked your little gift...” Morrigan started to say, but what she saw next even left her speechless.

 

I took the crushed blossom, closed my eyes and muttered an incantation. Then I tossed the petals into the air. A rush of warm air filled the glade and rose petals began to slowly float from the sky. The glade filled with the lights of many fireflies. Rose vines crawled up the trees and rocks near the pools and hundreds of blooms sprouted into new roses. I then took the stem of Alistair’s original rose and murmured another quiet spell. The bloom on the rose came back as though it had never disappeared.

 

Both Alistair and Morrigan just stared, mouths agape. Neither one had ever seen magic such as what I had just created. Morrigan seemed to recover first, and she nodded to herself as she made a decision. She jumped lightly off of the branch, and quietly placed her hand on Alistair’s arm.

“Time for us to go,” she whispered.

Alistair either couldn’t move or didn’t want to. He simply stared as I started to disrobe.

“Now!” Morrigan grabbed Alistair’s ear and began tugging him away.

“Owowowoww!” he whispered angrily. “All right, I’m going, I’m going!”

 

I sighed as I stepped into the luxurious bath I had created. I dunked my hair in the water and as I lathered the soaproot into my hair, I chuckled. _Hope I gave them a good_ _enough show..._

 

After I had finished my bath, I dunked my soiled mage robes into another clean pool, murmured a spell and then pulled them out, clean and tidy again. I then used an air spell to dry them quickly and slipped them back on. I hummed lightly to myself as I gathered Alistair’s rose in my hand and headed back to camp. Morrigan saw me and beckoned me over.

“Yes, Morrigan?”

“I will teach you,” she simply said.

It took me a moment to understand what she meant. A smile then came to my face.

“Thank you! I won’t let you down.”

She simply nodded. “We will begin our lessons after we break for camp each day on our way to the Tower.”

“I understand. I will meet you then,” I started to walk off, but then turned and said, “By the way, thank you for helping me convince Alistair that we needed to go to the Tower first… I really appreciate it.”

Morrigan simply nodded. “’Tis not a problem, but I do hope for your sake you are right.”

 _Actually, I hope I am not._  I thought as I walked off.

 

As I headed back to my tent, I stopped briefly to let Leliana know about the pools. Her eyes widened and she smiled in thanks. I then passed by Alistair as his tent was next to mine. I smiled brightly at him.

“Thank you again for the rose. I will always treasure it.” I then stood on my tiptoes and gave him a light kiss on his cheek. “Good night, Alistair.” I then entered my tent and closed the flap.

Leliana watched the exchange between the two of us with a soft smile on her face. She also saw that after I had gotten into my tent, Alistair slowly brought his hand to the cheek I had kissed.

“So,” Leliana said softly as she approached Alistair, “I take it that it went well? Your gift?”

Alistair had a dreamy far-off expression on his face. “Yeah...” he mumbled. “I think it did.” Still holding his fingertips to his cheek, he then quietly got into his own tent as Leliana chuckled lightly.

 

As morning approached and we were packing up getting ready to head north to the Circle Tower, I heard someone hailing us. I turned around to see the two dwarves we had rescued from darkspawn yesterday, Bodahn, and his son Sandal. I waved and ran over to them. They had their mule-driven wagon with them.“Well, well! Look here me boy, it’s the Grey Wardens who helped us!” Bodahn said cheerfully.

“Hello,” Sandal simply said.

“How did you find us?” I asked.

“We saw your campfire smoke and decided to investigate. Figured it might be someone friendly.”

“I’m glad to see you both are okay,” I said as Alistair and Leliana joined me. “ I was a little concerned leaving the two of you alone.”

“Nothing to worry about friends. We were hoping perhaps to find someone to barter with, but it looks like you are heading out again?”

“Yes, we decided to head to the Circle Tower after all,” Alistair explained. “We should be back this way in about a week, I believe.”

“Ah! Well then, I have a proposition for you,” Bodahn said. “How’s about we stay here? Me and Sandal can watch your camp for you while you’re gone.”

“You want to watch our camp?” Alistair sounded confused. “Why would that interest you?”

“Well,” Bodahn said, “Me and my boy here have had our fill of excitement for the time being. We want to stay somewhere safe for a bit. I figure a Grey Warden camp is as safe a place as any. In turn, we can do some business when you get back? How does that sound?”

“Won’t it be kind of boring staying here alone?” Leliana asked.

“We’ll be just fine, won’t we boy?”

“Fine!” Sandal jumped in excitement.

“Well then, I guess it will be all right… if the rest of my group doesn’t mind?” I said.

Leliana nodded.

“Fine with me,” Alistair said.

“As long as you touch nothing in my camp,” Morrigan said with a veiled threat, “Then ‘tis fine.”

Winston gave a happy sounding bark.

Sten just shrugged.

“Welcome to our camp then,” I said.

Bodahn smiled. “You won’t regret that hospitality! I’ll give you a discount when you get back!”

 

A few hours later we were heading on the road north, with the massive Lake Calenhad to our left. Leliana was taking the lead, followed by Alistair, then Sten and I, and in the rear was Morrigan and Winston. As we walked, Sten surprised me by initiating conversation.

“You are not as callow as I thought,” he said. “That is... unexpected.”

I blinked in confusion. “What is that supposed to mean?”

He gave me a look. “Callow? It is a word in your tongue. It means ‘without feathers’, like a newly hatched bird.”

I scowled. “I know what the word means, Sten.”

“Then why ask?”

I sighed. “ I meant why did you think I was callow?”

Sten grunted. “You probably give most people that impression. You’ll get over it… eventually.”

“Why did you come here? To Ferelden?” I asked. I had to admit that ever since I had met him, I had been wondering that.

Without looking at me, he answered, “I was sent here to be the eyes of the antaam. The arishok asked, ‘What is the Blight?’ By his curiosity, I am now here.”

“What is an arishok?” I asked, never having heard that word before.

“The one who commands the antaam, the body of the Qunari,” he replied.

“And why does he care about the Blight?”

“Why do you?” Sten asked me, glancing at me.

“I’m a Grey Warden now. It’s my job.”

“Exactly. You don’t ask. Nor do I. The arishok sends me, and I go.”

“Will you have to report back?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“When do you plan on doing that?” Was Sten going to leave us so soon?

“Never. I cannot go home.” He looked a bit downcast.

Confused, I asked, “Why not?”

“It doesn’t matter now,” he grumbled, ending the conversation for the moment.

 

I gave him some time, but then I had to ask. “Sten? Why were you in that cage?”

“Does it matter?” he looked at me sternly. Seeing my expression, he sighed. “Fine. I caged myself. A weak mind is a deadly foe, as you are no doubt aware.”

I nodded. “What happened?”

“I came to your lands with seven of the beresaad – my brothers – to seek answers about the Blight. We made our way across the Ferelden countryside without incident, seeing nothing of the threat we were sent to observe... until the night we camped by this lake.” He gestured to his left. “They came from everywhere! The earth beneath our feet, the air above us. Even our own shadows harbored the darkspawn. I saw the last of the creatures cut down too late. I fell.”

I had never heard Sten say so much at once, but I quickly shook it off. “What happened to the other Qunari?”

He looked sad. “I was told that no others survived. I don’t know how long I lay on the battlefield among the dead, nor do I know how the farmers found me. I only know that when I awoke, I was no longer among my brothers... and my sword was gone from my hand.”

“Do you think you dropped it on the battlefield?”

“Perhaps. I searched for it, and when that failed I asked my rescuers what had become if it.”

“Did the farmers know what had become of it?” I asked.

“They said they found me with nothing.”

“Did you believe them?”

“I did. I know they didn’t have the blade, as they had no reason to lie to me. But, I panicked. Unthinking, I killed them with my bare hands.”

“That’s terrible!” I practically yelled, but then quickly clamped my lips shut. How would Sten react to my callous response? To my surprise, he did not get angry at me. Instead, he looked... ashamed.

“I know. I cannot justify what I have done. My honor is forfeit. That sword was made for my hand alone. I have carried it from the day I was sent into the beresaad. I was to die wielding it for my people. Even if I could cross Ferelden and Tevinter unarmed and alone to bring my report back to the arishok, I would be slain on sight by the antaam. They would know me as soulless – a deserter. No soldier would cast aside his blade while he drew breath.”

“Well,” I said slowly. “We could look for it. We will be traveling by the lake for some time. Perhaps we will find the area where it may have been lost?”

Sten looked a bit surprised at my offer. “Perhaps those words are empty... but thank you all the same.”

 

True to her word, after our evening meal on our first night on the road, Morrigan called me over to begin my shapeshifting lessons.

“Now you must understand, that the best I can do will be to give you the basics at this time,” Morrigan explained. “Mother taught me this skill over years and years, so I have had a lot of time to perfect the technique. We will start simply...” and she proceeded to explain the spell, how to envision the animal I wanted to become, and the incantation. She then showed me several transformations: a bear, a massive spider (which gave me the jitters. I really didn't like spiders), and even a swarm of insects. She explained that that last transformation was one of the hardest, as she had to control hundreds of small bodies in tandem.

Morrigan wanted me to try to transform into a rabbit as, “...for some reason, small prey animals are usually easier, to begin with.”

I closed my eyes and invoked the incantation. I felt a tingling sensation and then opened my eyes. I was still facing Morrigan, and I was still me. At least that was what I thought. Morrigan burst into a fit of laughter.

“What?” I asked. “What happened?”

“’Tis nothing you need to worry about. I think it suits you,” she replied, while still laughing.

I began by touching my face, and it all felt normal... until I reached my ears.

Apparently, I had now had long fluffy rabbit ears. I turned red with embarrassment.

“Um, how do I, uh... change back?” I asked, humiliated.

“It will change back on its own in time, but if you really want to fix it now...”

“Yes!”

So, Morrigan taught me the reversal spell. She also explained that as a fully transformed animal, I would not be able to speak the spell, so I would have to think it.

I concentrated hard on the spell in my mind and finally felt my ears go back to normal.

I had to admit my disappointment in my ability to fully change, but Morrigan was surprisingly positive about my partial transformation.“The fact that you were even able to accomplish that just on our first session shows great promise,” she explained. “We will continue tomorrow eve.”

 

As we continued to travel north, we were unaware that things were heating up in Denerim. Arl Rendon Howe, a cruel and iron-fisted ruler, had recently taken over a leadership role in the capital city. He was also Loghain’s new right-hand man, and trouble with a capital “T”.

“I bring word, sire,” Howe said as he approached Loghain. “There are demands from the Bannorn that you... step down from the regency. They are said to be gathering their forces, as are your allies. It appears it will be civil war after all - despite the darkspawn. Pity.” Howe paused momentarily as he saw Loghain grip the table in front of him. “I also have an interesting report. One of our soldiers managed to return from Lothering with news. There seem to be Grey Wardens who survived Ostagar.”

Loghain’s expression darkened and he closed his eyes. Howe continued. “How, we don’t know. But they will most likely act against you.” Loghain nodded briefly.

“I have arranged for... a solution. With your leave,” Howe said. As Loghain turned to face him, Howe indicated a thin, wiry elf standing behind him.

“The Antivan Crows... send their regards,” the elf spoke in a thickly accented, yet smooth voice.

“An assassin?” Loghain stared at Howe incredulously.

“Against Grey Wardens, we will need the very best,” Howe replied, both politely and diplomatically.

“And the most expensive,” the elf chuckled.

Loghain scowled. “Just get it done,” he said angrily.

Howe and the elf both graciously bowed and left Loghain to his thoughts.

 

On our fourth day on the road towards the Lake Calenhad docks, where we could get a boat to take us to the Circle Tower, Sten suddenly stooped in his tracks. I turned to face him.

“Sten? Why have you stopped?”

“This...” he replied slowly and pointed to a field next to the lake. “This is where we camped. This is where the darkspawn ambushed us. I am certain of it!”

After my lessons with Morrigan during the first evening camp, I had explained to the rest of the group briefly what had happened to Sten and the rest of the Qunari. They had agreed to help. So we combed the field thoroughly but found no sign of Sten’s sword. Disappointed, we were about to leave when I spotted a man dressed in tattered clothing. He seemed to be guarding a pile of junk. He heard us approach.

“Back off!” he growled. “I wuz ‘ere first!”

“Who are you?” I asked.

“That don’t matter none to youse!” he shouted as he waved his arms at us. “I’m an ‘onest businessman! I wasn’t botherin’ nobody... and I wuz ‘ere first!”

Though I figured it was probably a waste of my time, I asked, “Have you seen a sword lying around here?”

The man immediately looked around shiftily. “Uh... why? You lookin’ to buy one?”

Sten stepped up to me as I said, “No, but my very large, angry friend here is.”

The man looked up at Sten’s glowering face. “Ah... Is ‘e then? Well, that is... See, I’d like to sell youse one, but I don’t have any meself.” He rummaged through his pile of “stuff” and pulled out... something. “I gots part o’ a glove that the wolves didn’ chew too badly... at least I think it’s a glove...” He tossed it back down and sighed. “I know! Don’ say it... I gots cheated. See, I knew the guy who wuz ‘ere before me. Sold me this spot, ‘e did. Said ‘e’d found giants and all sorts o’ crazy valuables ‘ere. ‘E didn’ mention ‘e’d taken everything but the bones and the dirt already!” The man spat on the ground. “His names Faryn. Squirrelly lil’ bastard, if’n youse ask me... which youse didn’, but I said it anyways.”

“Where is he now?” I asked.

“Said ‘e wuz goin’ to Orzammar, ‘e did. Reckon ‘e’s there, by now. If’n youse find ‘im, tell ‘im I sent youse. It’ll scare the piss outa ’im! Heh!”

As we left the hermit, I heard Sten growl in anger.

“Don’t worry, Sten,” I said as calmly as I could. “We will be needing to go to Orzammar to negotiate with the dwarves. I’m sure we’ll find this... Faryn.”

Sten just frowned. “Leave me be.”

I just nodded once, respectfully, and we all headed back to the road.

 

By night four, my lessons with Morrigan were not going as well as I had hoped. I had not made any other significant progress other than turning various body parts of mine into animal form, and I was getting frustrated. Morrigan kept reminding me that she had years of experience, and not to stress myself over it.

“There was hardly a spell I couldn’t learn when I was in the Tower,” I grumbled.

“Perhaps that may be true,” Morrigan said calmly. “But ‘tis more than just learning a simple flame spell or charm. The act of transforming oneself completely takes time. You are learning more than just a spell. You are learning a whole new form of magic. One that your Circle never knew about.”

I sighed. “I can’t help but feel like I am failing you.”

“You are failing no one but yourself. I have explained to you that this will take time.” Morrigan admonished. “We will stop for the evening. Give yourself a rest.”

I was near tears as I walked off. Alistair saw me and beckoned me to come and sit by him. I wiped my eyes and did.

“Lessons not going so well, I guess?” he asked with sympathy.

“No,” I mumbled.

“Well, I can’t imagine that Morrigan is a very good teacher,” he began, but I shook my head.

“No, she’s fine. She is actually a good instructor and a good friend.” Alistair looked dubious. I nodded. “She is, really! I just... feel like I’m a failure.”

Alistair turned me to face him and he gripped my shoulders. “You are **not** a failure, Kylara. You are incredible! I have seen you do things that no other mage has done. You have already helped so many people, you are an amazing Grey Warden, and... I,” he took a deep breath, “I have come to... care for you. A great deal in fact.”

I could feel my face flush with warmth as he continued. “I know it might sound strange, considering we haven’t known each other for very long.” He gently touched my face. “I think... maybe it is because we have both gone through so much together.”

“Alistair... ” I murmured quietly.

“I hope I am not fooling myself,” he said softly. “Do you maybe... I don’t know... feel the same way about me?”

“You know I do...” I whispered.

“Really?” His eyes began to glow a little. He leaned closer to me and his lips brushed against mine in a feathery kiss. Then he pulled away slowly. “That... wasn’t too soon. Was it?”

I could hardly breathe and my heart was pounding. “No,” I barely managed to whisper. “I liked it. A lot.”

I could feel Alistair breathe a sigh of relief. He hugged me close to him. “That’s good to know,” he said quietly.

 

Early the next evening, we arrived at the Lake Calenhad dock. My feeling of concern about the Tower increased ten-fold. Something was very, very wrong here indeed.

We made our way down the hillside to the small tavern. Much to my surprise, I saw Kester, the ferryman for the Tower, sitting outside the pub instead of his usual spot by the docks.

“Kester! Hello! I waved to him.” He looked surprised to see me.

“Why if it isn’t you!” he got up from the bench he’d been sitting on. “I remember taking you across when you left with that Duncan fellow... and now here you are, a Grey Warden!” He gave me a big smile as he said, “Me pap used to tell me stories about them.”

“So, what going on here Kester? Why aren’t you manning the boat?” I asked, getting a bit more worried.

He frowned. “Templars took it.”

“Why would they take your boat?”

“I don’t got a clue. They wouldn’t tell me,” he grumbled. “Greagoir himself just came down and said, ‘Don’t you worry, Kester. We got it all under control, we do.’ Didn’t say nothing else. And then he goes and puts Carroll in charge of me boat, Lissie! Named for me grandmum, she was!”

“There is something going on at the Tower. Isn’t there?” I asked worriedly.

“I told you, they didn’t tell me nothing. I tend to stay out of your Mage and Templar business anyways. I’m just a simple ferryman.”

I glanced at the rest of my group. “I need to get out there and find out what is going on.”

Well, good luck with that,” Kester said. “That Carroll is a hard-ass. He won’t let nobody even get close to the docks.”

“We’ll see about that,” I muttered.

I left Kester and headed down to the dock with the group.

“Hey!” I heard Carroll shout as we approached. “Off you go now, I have orders to not let **anyone** go out to the Tower!”

“Seriously, Carroll? You don’t recognize me?”

“Oh, it’s **you** ,” he frowned. “Well, I don’t care if you’re some jumped up Grey Warden now! No one is going out to the Tower, Greagoir’s orders!”

“Hey! How dare you speak to her that way!” Alistair fumed.

I turned to Alistair. “Thank you, but I’ve got this.” I gave him a sly wink, which he caught. He then gave me a grin as if to say, ‘Go get ‘em!’

“Look, Carroll, I may be a Grey Warden now, but I am first and foremost a mage. The Tower was my home, and if there is something going on out there, I need to know.” I gave him a glaring look. “You **will** let me, and my companions, go across this lake right now, or you will seriously regret it!”

Perhaps it was because I was so adamant, or perhaps my eyes had the spooky Warden glow again because Carroll suddenly lost all his bluster.

“Uh, yes. Right this way.” He started to get in the boat.

“No need. We will get ourselves across, thank you!” I gave him a sinister looking smile. “You just stand here like the idiot you are and mind your own business, all right?”

Carroll looked at the ground and mumbled, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Thank you. Come on now, everyone. Hop on in.”

“Wow,” Alistair said with a laugh. “Remind me not to make you angry!”

The boat was not very big, but we all managed to get in, even Winston and Sten. I sat in the very back.

“So now what?” Morrigan asked. “Who’s going to row?”

“No one,” I said. I closed my eyes and said softly, “Gluais oirnn air adhart.” <Move forward.> Then I put my hand in the water. The boat moved forward, slowly at first, but gradually picking up speed.

I saw Sten grab the bow of the boat and mutter something in his native language. No doubt the spell use making him uncomfortable.

“Amazing!” Leliana shouted. “This is incredible!”

 

Half an hour later, the boat finally reached to Tower’s dock. I knew I shouldn’t have used my magic in such a fashion, and I tried to hide my exhaustion. Morrigan, however, noticed.

“That was a foolish waste of power,” Morrigan scolded. “All to show off in front of that fool of a Templar.”

“I... I’m sorry. You are right, Morrigan. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“’Twas a stupid thing to do indeed! If your friends in here need your help, how will you be able to assist them if you spend all your magic on parlor tricks?” She sighed and reached into her pack, pulling out a lyrium potion. “Do not let me catch you doing something like that again.”

I took the potion from her. “I won’t,” I promised. I drank the potion and handed her back the empty flask. “Thank you.”

We walked up the stairs and into the Tower.

 


	8. Tower of Terror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tower is in chaos! Demons and Abominations are running amok! Will Kylara be able to save her former home?

There was chaos. Injured Templars were groaning in pain, others were running around in a panic. As I approached Greagoir, I hear him talking to another Templar.

“...and I want two men stationed within sight of the doors at all times! Do not open the doors without my express consent. Is that clear?”

“Yes, ser!” the Templar said and walked off.

“Knight-Commander Greagoir,” I said, using his full title. I bowed, wanting to be respectful. “What is going on here?”

“Well, look who’s back! Irving’s prize pupil. And a proper Grey Warden now, are you?” he said with disdain.

I tried to not let him get to me. “Yes, I am,” I said. “I have returned to...”

He cut me off. “We are dealing with a situation that doesn’t involve you, Grey Warden. You’d best just turn around, walk out those doors and never return. After all, you’re not a part of the Circle anymore.”

“I may be a Grey Warden, but I am also a mage. Even if I am not of the Circle anymore, this was still my home. I have friends here. Now tell me. What is going on?”

“Friends! Hah!” Greagoir scoffed. “Yes. Don’t think I have forgotten your role in Jowan’s escape. The two of you corrupted one of my Priests, and then you let him get away!”

Now I was getting angry. “I did no such thing! Jowan and Lily were in the plan to destroy his phylactery together! I only ‘helped’ because First Enchanter Irving wanted to know what they were up to! I was loyal to the Circle then, and I still am now!”

“A likely story!” Greagoir’s eyes narrowed. “What is going on here is not your concern. Now I insist you leave!”

“I suggest you listen to my friend,” Morrigan began. Greagoir’s eyes widened when he saw her.

“Oh ho! Now I have even further proof! She is no Circle Mage! You are friends with apostates **and** blood mages!”

Morrigan’s eyes sparked dangerously. “You would be wise to hold your tongue, lest you wish me to cut it out. I am no mage of your Circle, ‘tis true, but I came here nonetheless to assist my friend in saving her precious Circle because it means much to her!”

Leliana stepped forward. “You would turn away help when it is freely offered? Then you and the other Templars are fools.”

“I too, stand by Kylara’s side,” Alistair said as he put his arm around me. “We came here as Grey Wardens to get the mages assistance with the Blight, but if they need our help first, then we will gladly give it whether you want it or not!”

Winston growled at Greagoir, while Sten just stood in the back with his arms crossed over his massive chest and a dark expression on his face.

Gregoir eyed each one of my companions in turn. Resigned, he finally said, “Fine. I’ll speak plainly then. The Tower is no longer under our control. Demons and abominations stalk the hallways. We were too complacent. First Jowan, and now this. His escape set a dangerous precedent. I should have been more vigilant and urged Irving to be more wary...”

“What has become of the First Enchanter?” I asked.

“We don’t know. We saw only demons and abominations hunting mages and Templars alike. I realized we could not defeat so many, so I ordered my men to fall back.”

“So you retreated like a bunch of scared rabbits then?” I said angrily.

“We had no choice!” Greagoir shouted. “One or two we could have handled; not the horde that fell upon us!

“Why don’t you rally your men and fight?” Leliana asked.

“I would rather destroy this tower. Raze it to the ground. But I will not risk any more of my men. The doors remain shut, and they will protect us for now.”

“You shut everyone in there, including innocent mages?” I said incredulously. “Why?”

“Not just mages, but my Templars as well. I had no choice,” he repeated. “The abominations must be contained at all costs! But the doors will not stay closed forever. We have a plan in place.” He had a shrewd look on his face that I didn’t like one bit. “I have sent word to Denerim for the Right of Annulment.”

Aghast, I exclaimed, “You would destroy the entire Circle?”

“This situation is dire. There is no alternative!” he exclaimed. “Everything must be destroyed for it to be made safe again!”

I closed my eyes and lowered my head. What Greagoir was considering was not acceptable. I looked up at Alistair and saw that his eyes were flickering golden. Knowing he felt the same as me, even though he had almost been a Templar himself, gave me strength. I then stared into Greagoir’s face.

“You do have another option,” I said.

“What do you mean?” he asked, looking at Alistair and me with fear and perhaps a little awe.

“We go into the tower. We kill the demons and abominations. We save everyone. I will bring the First Enchanter down here myself, and there will be no Right of Annulment. Is… that… clear?”

“You will risk yourself in there? I don’t know if that is bravery or just foolhardiness.” He sighed. “Very well. I’ll let you in there, but I will be barring the doors behind you. You have about three days before the reinforcements arrive from Denerim.”

“Very well,” I nodded. “Let us in.”

 

The massive iron doors slammed shut behind us and I heard the barrier lock lifted and put into place. We were all now on our own in here. Immediately to our right was my old dormitory. I walked in and bit back a sob. The beds were all in shambles, some completely smashed. Chests that had held our personal effects were scattered all over the room. Blood was splashed all over the walls and floor. I could see no one in the large room, so we moved on.

Next to the women’s dorm was the men’s and it too had fared no better. I did find some scraps of paper that seemed to bear some typed of cryptic communication about a ritual involving statues. I stuffed the notes into my pocket to peruse later. In the bathing area of the men’s dorm, I found the dead bodies of two mages huddled in the corner. I recognized them and sobbed.

“Jyllian! Sarita! No!”

Alistair came up to me and held me as I cried.“I know this is going to be tough for you,” he said softly. “But you are going to have to be strong. We will find out what has happened here and we will right the wrongs. They will not have died in vain.”

I sniffed and nodded. He was right. I would most likely be seeing the bodies of many more of my friends. I would have to be brave for them.

“I’m okay,” I said.

“You sure?” Alistair asked.

“Yes. Let’s get going. We may yet find survivors.”

We continued down the hallway. Dead templars were also scattered amongst the mage corpses. Whatever had happened here, had happened fast. Many of the bodies still had looks of shock on their lifeless faces.

Ahead of us was a door. Alistair kicked it open. I saw a huge rage demon in front of us, and to my surprise, Wynne was there as well. She raised her staff and blasted the demon with a massive spell. It crumbled into dust.

“Wynne!” I cried out in joy. I hadn’t seen her since Ostagar. “You are all right!”

“Kylara? Oh...” I saw Wynne drop to her knees. It was then I saw some other mages who had survived. Petra, Kinnon, Keili, and some of the children were also in the room. Petra ran up to Wynne at the same time I did.

“Wynne, are you all right?” Petra asked.

“I-I am fine. Just a little woozy. Please, help me to stand.” We both assisted her. She then turned to me. “I know about Ostagar. I thought everyone was... dead. I just barely managed to escape myself with a few wounded soldiers I had been tending. How did you and Alistair survive?”

“We had... help,” was all I could say. Morrigan was standing in the back, and I saw her frown at me. I gave her a quick apologetic look and turned back to Wynne. “Duncan had sent us to the Tower of Ishal to light the beacon for... for Loghain’s troops.”

“Loghain! That traitor!” Wynne spat. “Because he pulled his troops, we lost our King!”

“Well, right now we have a much larger problem,” I said and told her about what Greagoir had told me.

“The Right of... Annulment?” Wynne paled. “So Greagoir truly thinks the Circle lost. He probably assumes we are all dead.” She sighed. “They abandoned us to our fate, but even trapped as we are, we have survived. If they invoke the Right, however, we will not be able to stand against them.”

“Where is the First Enchanter. Has he survived?”

“If anyone could survive this, I am sure Irving could. It was he who told me to look after the children. I erected a barrier over this door leading to the rest of the Tower, so nothing could attack them. If you join with me to save the Circle, I will remove this barrier.”

“You know I will Wynne. We will save the Circle.” I said.

“Once Greagoir sees that we have made the Tower safe, I am sure he will back down. He is not unreasonable.” Wynne stated.

 _Maybe to you he isn’t_ , I thought, remembering the argument I had just had with him. I then asked, “What about the children, will they be safe if the barrier is down?”

“If we slay all the fiends we encounter on our way to try and save Irving, none should get by to attack them. Petra, Kinnon, and Keili will also be here.”

“How many of us should go ahead?” I asked.

“I think four of us, including myself should be able to handle what lies ahead,” Wynne replied.

“Are you sure, Wynne?” Petra asked. “You were gravely injured not that long ago.”

“I will be fine, Petra. Do not worry about me.”

“Let me see who else will come with me and who will stay here with the rest,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”

I walked over to where Sten, Morrigan, Leliana, Alistair were. “Would you be willing to come along Sten? We could use your strength.”

“You ask much of me, bas saarebas.” Sten frowned.

“What does that word mean? You’ve called me that before.”

“It means foreign mage. You are not Qunari and you use magic. I should have you know I do not trust... your kind.”

“My kind?”

“Mages,” Sten said.

I had little patience to deal with a Sten temper-tantrum. “Then why do you follow me if you do not trust me?”

“You are a Grey Warden. That part of you I do trust.”

I sighed. “Well if you are not comfortable in the presence of magic users, then it is for the best you stay here and help to protect the children.

“Very well. I will stay and protect the imekari,” he said.

I then looked for Winston, but he was already playing with the children. Guess he’s made his decision too, I smiled.

“I am coming with you,” Alistair said.

I smiled at him. “I figured you would.”

That left Morrigan and Leliana. I truly didn’t want to choose one over the other, as they were both my friends. However, Morrigan made the decision for me.

“Why did you not tell your prissy former school teacher what really happened when Mother and I saved you?” she asked angrily.

“I am sorry I didn’t tell her the truth. Wynne is old-fashioned. She doesn’t like apostates… either.”

Wisely, Leliana stayed silent.

Morrigan glared at me. “Perhaps Mother was wrong in saving you then. Perhaps I should just pack my bags and leave, is that it?”

“No, Morrigan! Please. I will tell Wynne everything. I will get her to understand that not all mages outside of the Circle are wicked or bad. You are a very valuable asset to the team, and you are my friend. Please don’t leave.”

“I will think on it. For now, I will stay here.” Morrigan looked at Leliana. “Go with her, Leliana. Save the Circle... together.”

Leliana merely nodded. Alistair, Leliana, and I joined Wynne at the barrier.

“So here we are,” Wynne said. “I am somewhat amazed at myself for having kept it in place for this long.”

“You did what you had to do, Wynne.”

“It made me very weary at times, but I had to stay strong... to keep us all safe.” She took a deep breath. “Be prepared for anything. I do not know what manner of creatures lurk beyond my barrier. Are you ready?”

“I am,” I said.

“We all are,” Leliana chimed in.

“Then here we go,” Wynne spoke the incantation and the barrier disappeared.

 

It was eerily silent beyond the barrier. We slowly made our way around the corner and into the library. Three demons seemed to come out of nowhere. Alistair, Leliana, and I quickly killed them off as Wynne stayed in the back as our healer. Having her there made a huge difference, as until now, I hadn’t realized how tiring fighting could be.

We continued fighting our way through the library. Greagoir had been right about one thing... there really were a massive amount of demons and abominations. Where in the void had they all come from? This was far more than the work of a few disgruntled mages.

Just before we reached the stairs to the second floor, I decided to ask Wynne if she knew what had happened.

“It’s a long story,” she began. “It all started when I had returned from Ostagar. You remember Uldred had also come from the Circle to assist in that battle, yes?” I nodded. “Well, as I stayed in Ostagar to help some of the wounded before things got too dire and I had to flee as well. Uldred, on the other hand, left for the Tower almost immediately after Loghain pulled out.”

I knew Uldred. He was a powerful mage, and very ambitious. If he had sided with Loghain however, that would not be good at all.

Wynne confirmed my worst fears. “When I returned here, I had found that Uldred had all but convinced the Circle to join Loghain.” I closed my eyes and shook my head briefly.

“I cannot fault the Circle in this,” Wynne continued. “Uldred had a very persuasive argument, and how could the rest of the Circle know what really happened at Ostagar when Uldred glossed over the truth?”

“Do you think Uldred has been in cahoots with Loghain all this time?” I asked.

Wynne nodded. “That has been my suspicion. Uldred always wanted power. Perhaps Loghain promised Uldred the position of First Enchanter, once they had dealt with the Blight.”

“Replace Irving as First Enchanter? No!” I replied angrily.

“Well, I had a chance to speak with Irving before Uldred, and I was able to tell him the truth about what really happened at Ostagar. I revealed Loghain for the treacherous bastard he is!”

“Well, that is good news, at least,” I said. Wynne shook her head. “Irving did go to confront Uldred. He called a meeting up in the Harrowing Chamber, but something must have gone wrong. I had just emerged from my quarters when I heard the screams coming from up there. It wasn’t long after that when I saw the first of the abominations running down a mage. It... deteriorated quickly after that.”

“Any idea where the First Enchanter might be?”

“If Irving is still alive, and I hope and pray that he is, he may still be up in the Harrowing Chamber,” she said.

We then made our way to the second floor. I saw the old stockroom, where Owain usually held vigil, in shambles.

“Hello? Anyone here?” I called.

“Please refrain from entering the stockroom, “ I heard a familiar monotone voice say. “It is a mess and I have not been able to get it into a fit state to be seen.”

“Owain?”

“Yes, it is I. You remember me.”

“Of course I do! Are you all right?” I asked.

“I was just trying to tidy up, but there was little I could do,” Owain said.

“Why does he talk that way?” Leliana whispered to me.

“He is a Tranquil,” I explained quietly. “Tranquil are mages that have had their magic taken away from them. It leaves them... a little empty. I can explain it later, if you wish to know more… ” Then to Owain, I asked, “Don’t you want to get out of here?”

“I tried to leave when things got quiet. That was when I encountered the barrier. Finding no other way out, I returned to work.”

“Owain, you should have said something,” Wynne replied, lightly scolding him. “I would have opened the barrier for you.”

“The stockroom is familiar. I prefer to be here,” Owain said, straight-faced as ever.

“Well, I’m glad you are all right, Owain,” I said.

“I would prefer not to die. I would prefer it for the Tower to return to the way it was before. Perhaps Niall will succeed and save us all.”

“What was Niall trying to do?” I asked.

“I do not know,” Owain replied. “He and a few others came here and took the Litany of Adralla.”

“The Litany of Adralla? But that protects against mind domination. Is there blood magic at work here?” Wynne asked.

Again Owain said, “I do not know.”

Wynne turned to the rest of us. “Niall was also at the meeting. He would know. Blood magic... I was afraid of this.”

“What should we do now?” Alistair asked.

“We should find Niall,” I said. “If this Litany of Adralla can protect us against blood magic, we may have a fighting chance to save others.”

“I wish you luck. Perhaps this will be over soon and things will return to the way they were before.” Owain said simply. I almost wanted to cry at his words, for even if we succeeded, things would most likely never go back to normal for the Circle.

Once we left Owain and the stockroom, we took the door out towards the senior mage quarters. This would have been my new home, had I not had to leave the Circle. The rooms up here were in even a worse state than the dormitories downstairs. More blood covered the walls and floors. Furniture and books were scattered and smashed all over the place. We picked our way carefully around all the debris.

Out of nowhere abominations appeared. We quickly killed them, and then ran into some mages. However, they were not on our side, they attacked. Two of them quickly fell to Leliana’s arrows, but the third only got injured. As we approached her, I saw she was not someone I had known from before. Alistair took her staff, and Leliana kept her bow trained on her.

“P-please... don’t kill me,” she begged.

Angrily I said, “The people you killed didn’t want to die either! Why have you done this?”

“We were just trying to free ourselves,” she said. “I never wanted all this death and destruction though. Uldred told us that the Circle would support Loghain, and he would free us from the Chantry!” She sobbed. “Don’t you remember what it was like living here? The Templars watching. Always watching...”

“But I never turned to forbidden magic! What you have done will only make things worse for future mages!” I fumed.

“Blood magic was only a means to an end! We thought... someone always has to take the first step, force a change, no matter the cost,” she said, trying to plead her case.

“Nothing is worth what you have done to this place!” Wynne said angrily.

The mage began to cry. “Uldred’s gone mad with power! We are now scattered and doomed to die at the hands of those who seek to right our wrongs!”

“What do you mean Uldred has gone mad?” I asked, but the mage was in hysterics now. _I pray I don’t regret this later_ , I thought and sighed. “Look. I will let you go... but I will **not** help you to escape. If you manage to get out of here and don’t get caught by the Templars, I want you to seek penance at the Chantry. Think about what you have done here.” She glanced up at me with hope. “Oh, and you are **not** getting your staff back, by the way. NO magic getting you out of here! If we find out, I will come after you personally,” I said vehemently.

“Yes. I will do this. You have my word. Thank you, Maker bless you.” she said gratefully. She got up off the floor and limped her way to the stairs heading down.

We continued down the hall, more rooms had either demons or abominations to dispatch, which we did. Finally, past the small Chantry in our Tower, we came upon Irving’s office. It was empty and in disarray.

Wynne sighed. “I almost half expected him to be in here.”

We looked around the First Enchanter’s office for a bit, trying to find any clues as to what had happened at the meeting. I saw an odd chest in the corner, I saw that Wynne wasn’t looking in my direction, and quietly opened it. There was only one book inside... a black tome with a withered tree etched into the cover. I had no idea why I felt the book was important, but I felt like I needed to take it. _Forgive me First Enchanter_ , I thought, and I took the tome and stuffed it into my pack before anyone noticed.

We headed up the stairs to the third floor to the Great Hall. We used this area for meetings and other gatherings. I had not had the opportunity to come up here very often, but the first thing I noticed after we entered the main atrium of the Great Hall were some statues along the back wall. I pulled one of the scraps of paper that I had found downstairs and studied it, and then looked at the statues again. The ritual on the paper seemed to be indicating that these statues were the key. I wanted to take a closer look, but all of a sudden the corpses on the floor rose up and began attacking.

 _Great! Demons, abominations and_ _ **now**_ _walking corpses? As if we didn’t have enough to deal with here,_ I thought. Alistair charged in, I froze several in their tracks, and Leliana started shooting arrows at them. Finally, the dead were now dead... again.

I looked at the scribbled note again.

 

_Whispers say Great Hall? Hidden above us the whole time!_

_-The vessel in hand, words from another time drip literal power. (Put on bowl!)_

_-A sword raised, to sever connection. (Cord cut!)_

_-A sword lowered, to strike through and ground. (Bile!)_

_-The threads placed before a warrior, spear raised._

_-Shielded from each side, so whispers are known false. (Where is this? It_

_whispered order, but not where! It's in my head!)_

 

There were three statues in the Great Hall. The one on the far left had a bowl in its hands, the one in the middle was holding a sword pointed down, and the one on the far right had a sword pointing up. I could not figure out the last part but figured it might come to me later. I walked up to the first statue, the one with the bowl.

“What is is, Kylara?” Alistair asked.

“I found this scrap of paper earlier. It seems to be indicating something about these statues.” I then showed Alistair the note.

“I don’t know. Do we have time to be doing this?” he asked.

“Just give me a moment...” It was then that I saw a small nodule at the base of the statue. I reached out and tentatively touched it. A button clicked into place. So I quickly ran across the hall to the statue with the upwards raised sword. Again, I saw the same type of nodule and touched it. Another click. I ran to the third statue. Another button, another click. But nothing else happened. I pulled the paper out. Something about a shield was mentioned in the last part. Perhaps there was a fourth statue somewhere else that had a shield. I would keep an eye out.

“Kylara dear, do you think it wise to be messing with something like this?” Wynne asked gently.

“I-I am not sure, but I really would like to find out why someone would leave these cryptic messages. There must be something special about these statues. Why else would they have secret buttons on them?”

Wynne sighed. “Well, we really should get a move on. Every second we waste puts any other survivors in danger. We must rescue Irving if we are going to stop Greagoir from using the Right of Annulment.”

I stuffed the paper back into my robe. “You are right. Let’s go.” However, I still made a mental note to keep a lookout for that fourth statue. The next area had nothing except the charred body of some poor individual. I couldn’t tell if it had been a Templar or a mage, but I murmured a quick prayer for whomever it was as we passed it.

More abominations in the next room, followed by rage demons. After killing them, I started noticing something else besides blood splashed here and there. Now I was seeing piles of flesh as well. This wasn’t a good sign.

In the hallway leading to the fourth floor, another new enemy started attacking us… possessed Templars. I really didn’t want to kill them, but I could see no way of breaking the enchantment. Wynne and I had to stay far back as we encountered the Templars, as just like their non-possessed counterparts, they could drain our mana and disrupt our spells. We quickly cut them down. I did notice a statue with a shield in the room, but a quick inspection of it revealed nothing special about it.

Finally, just before the central room which held the stairs to the fourth floor, I found what had possessed the Templars - a Desire Demon. They were deadly foes, as they tempted a person with their innermost desires, hence their name. I froze it in place and Alistair quickly killed it. However, killing this one did not free the Templars, which meant there must be others in the Tower.

We then opened the door to the central room. There were several undead in here, along with a large abomination, who had apparently been trying to transform some of the other Tranquil into creatures like itself. I guess we had interrupted its ritual, as it roared and charged us.

I tried casting paralysis, but the creature resisted my spell. Alistair was able to keep the attention on him, which was good for me. Leliana shot arrow after arrow, quickly killing off the undead, and then started shooting the abomination. Finally, the creature fell. The two Tranquil in the room thanked us and then fled to safety.

After they left, I noticed the statues in the room. All three of them had shields, but only one had the same indentation as the other statues in the Great Hall atrium. I quickly pushed it. A final click. The statue opened its mouth and I heard a breathy whisper faintly say:

_It waits below..._

No one else in my party seemed to hear what I had. Below? I wondered if that meant the basement in the Tower. I told myself I would try to examine it once we had rescued the First Enchanter.

 

We headed up to the fourth floor. I had never been up here other than passing through when I had taken my Harrowing. These were the Templar’s quarters. Here we discovered even larger piles of flesh all over the walls and floors. The smell was repulsive. We had to be getting closer to the source of the corruption.

The first room we came across had a very strange sight. Another Desire demon was in here, along with a possessed Templar. But instead of immediately attacking us, we heard the demon having a conversation with the Templar.

“Everything is just as you wanted, my knight. Our love and our family is more than you could have hoped for...” The demon’s voice was sultry, but with an underlying tonal quality that made the back of my neck prickle. This was wrong.

“Unhand him, foul demon! I demand you stop what you are doing to that man!” I shouted.

The Templar said, “Do you hear something, my love?” His voice reminded me of the Tranquil and the way they spoke... flat and monotone. It was creepy.

The demon caressed the Templar’s face. “It is nothing, my darling, just the door. I will get it. The children have finished supper. Tuck them into bed while I see who it is.”

Children? Templars were not allowed to have children, because of their vows of celibacy. Just what was this demon doing? What was she making him see?

“Don’t be long...” the Templar replied. “The children will want to kiss you goodnight.” He then just stood in place as if frozen.

“I will be but a moment, pet...” The demon turned to face us and said, “You are intruding upon a loving, intimate moment and I dislike disruptions.”

“There is nothing loving or intimate going on here! What have you done to him?” I had my staff at the ready.

The demon reached up and fondled one of her large breasts. I shuddered. “Happiness is bewitching. There is a certain power in all things mortals delight in,” she almost purred. “I have given him what he has always wanted. Where is the harm in that? I saw this man’s loneliness and longing for a family that loved him. So I gave him what he wanted.”

“You are deceiving him,” I said angrily. “His so-called ‘happiness’ is nothing more than a cruel lie.”

“She is feeding off his innermost desires and taking away his will. This is... unholy,” Leliana muttered.

“But no one else would have known his heart. He did not even know it himself,” the demon stated.

“I don’t think this is what he really wants,” I countered.

“You do not see what I see of him. You know nothing. We are partners. I give him what no one else can, and through him, I get to experience what it is like to be mortal.”

“He deserves to be free of you. Let him find his own happiness!”

“What happiness?” she growled. “He has gone through life empty... resentful of his vows. You would return him to this?!” The demon’s eyes turned black with anger. “I want nothing from you. I have what I need. Leave us alone!”

“You are nothing but a parasite! Let him go!” I yelled.

“You leave me with no choice then.” She turned to the Templar and in a high-pitched voice cried out, “Help! There are bandits at the door! They want to murder our children!”

“They will not get past me!” the Templar drew his sword.

The demon and the Templar started attacking us. She also summoned two undead into the fray as well. Alistair quickly intercepted the Templar, to keep him away from Wynne and I. Leliana quickly attacked the undead, as I focused on the demon.

“Why did you have to go and spoil everything!” she shrieked and took a swipe at me with her claws. “All I wanted was to know was what love was!”

“Your kind knows nothing of love,” I said as I cast a flame spell at her. She dodged it.

“Oh, you think so? I know of your affections for that boy over there,” she snarled as she took another swipe. “Why don’t we stop this ceaseless fighting? I could give you what you want... You want him to love you. I could give that to you. Don’t you want that?”

“You will not tempt me demon! I know Alistair cares for me. But if he chooses to love me, I want it to happen on its own. Love must come from the heart. Grow it, nurture it, let it bloom. If you force his will on me, all that will do is cause resentment!” I cast a paralysis spell and Leliana quickly shot an arrow that went into the demon’s skull. She went down with a scream just as Alistair finished off the Templar.

We took a small breather. Wynne was healing a gash that the possessed Templar had inflicted on Alistair’s arm.

“Are you all right?” I asked him.

“I am fin- Ouch! Wynne, that hurt!”

“Oh, don’t be such a baby, Alistair,” Wynne scolded him as she applied a balm to the wound. “Now make sure you leave that alone so it will heal properly.”

Alistair grumbled but thanked Wynne. Then he turned to me. “Ready to get going?” 

I nodded. We all left the room and made our way to the staircase for the final floor, the Harrowing Chamber. No doubt this is where Uldred was, and hopefully the First Enchanter too.

 


	9. Sloth and The Fade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Sloth Demon traps Kylara, Alistair, Wynne, and Leliana in the Fade! How will they escape?

We opened the door to the next room to find a horrific sight. A huge demon was standing over the body of a mage. I recognized him. It was Niall. I had only met him a few times when I lived at the Tower, but he had always been a kind and pleasant person to chat with. He had, at one time, explained to me about the different fraternities that enchanters can belong to.

“A Sloth Demon!” Wynne shouted.

The demon turned to face us. “Oh look, visitors...” The demon’s voice made my skin crawl, but at the same time, somehow sounded... soothing. “I’d entertain you but... too much effort involved.”

“What have you done to Niall?” I asked as I tried to stifle a yawn. Why was I suddenly feeling so exhausted?

“Oh, he is just resting, poor lad. He was so very, very weary. You want to join us, don’t you?” I could see the rest of my group also struggling to focus. The demon continued in that odd... droning voice. “Why do you fight? You deserve more. You deserve a rest. The world will go on without you...”

“Can’t... keep eyes open. Someone... pinch me... please,” I head Alistair say before he fell to the ground.

“I’ll not... listen to your lies... demon,” Leliana’s voice was fading. “You have... no power... over me...” She too fell to the floor.

I could barely keep my eyes open.

“Resist,” Wynne pleaded. “You must resist, else we are all lost...” She collapsed.

The last thing I saw was the demon’s maniacal grin. Everything went black.

 

I found myself in a massive grand fortress. It was gaily decorated, large fires burned in the fireplaces and there were huge banquet tables covered with a lavish spread of food, beer, and wine. I saw many Grey Wardens at the tables feasting and laughing. Everyone was having such a grand time, so why was I feeling uneasy?

I made my way to the front of the great hall, where I saw Duncan, Daveth, and Jory. They all applauded me as I made my way up the dais.

“Welcome!” Duncan greeted me cheerily. “Please, enjoy the festivities. This is all in your honor, you know.”

“Duncan? What is going on here?” I asked.

“You single-handedly defeated the archdemon! The Blight is over. You have saved all of Ferelden!”

Daveth came up and gave me a slap on the back, “Well done, love! You were incredible!”

“I... did what?”

“It was an epic battle,” Jory said. “I am so proud to be a part of your team!”

Still confused, I looked around. “Where are we?”

“Why, you are in Weisshaupt Fortress! The home of the Grey Wardens,” Duncan explained. “You are home now. The Blight is done, you are a hero, and now you can rest and relax. All the Grey Wardens are here to celebrate.”

“All of the Wardens are here? But, I don’t see Alistair...” I said slowly.

“Alistair?” Duncan looked around. “Why, I am sure he is here somewhere.” He put an arm around me. “Come now... relax. Have some food. All of this is for you.”

I shrugged out from under his arm. “No. Something about this... isn’t right.” I shook my head trying to clear the fog. “You... shouldn’t be here. All of you,” I said, indicating Daveth and Jory as well. “You are all... dead... I remember...”

Daveth and Jory looked at me strangely. Duncan laughed. “Dead? Me? No! I have been close many times, but never quite made it all the way!” He tried to reach for me again.

“NO! You are not here! This is not real!” I backed away from them.

Duncan’s voice then changed, becoming malevolent. “Foolish child! I have given you so much and you cast it back in my face! Why can you not just be content with the peace I offer?” He drew his sword. Daveth and Jory drew their weapons as well.

All three of them began attacking me. I dodged Jory’s sword and quickly cast a freeze spell. He stopped mid-swing. I then backed off further and focused on Daveth, who was shooting arrows at me. A lightning spell quickly took care of him. Then I turned and hit Jory’s frozen form with a stonefist spell. His form shattered.

Duncan and I circled each other. He snarled at me, “It seems only war and death will satisfy you! So be it! Have your war and your darkspawn! May they be your doom!” He then charged at me, sword raised.

I leveled my staff at this false-Duncan and shouted “Teine losgadh!” Flames erupted from the end of my staff setting him ablaze. Despite that, he kept coming. I dodged his sword, rolling out of the way, all the while concentrating on keeping the flames coming from my staff.

False-Duncan finally started decomposing, his skin falling off in burning chunks. As he collapsed to the ground, one blood-red eye fixed on me, he grated out, “You think this is over mortal. It is never over! You will die here!” The body then exploded into nothing but ash.

Weisshaupt vanished into darkness and I felt myself falling.

 

When I came to, I found myself in an unknown, yet familiar place. This was the Fade. I picked myself up off the ground and began walking forward. Up ahead I saw a man. I ran up to him, it was Niall.

“Niall! Am I glad to see a familiar face! What are we doing here in the Fade?”

Niall blinked at me. “I recognize you. You are... Kylara, right?” I nodded. “How did you get out of the trap?” he asked.

“Trap?” I said, vaguely remembering something about Duncan and Weisshaupt.

“Sloth traps everyone that comes in here with a dream it thinks they can’t – or won’t – try to leave,” he explained. “I thought I had escaped too, but I have been wandering around here ever since. I feel as if I have been here a lifetime already. This place... it does strange things to your mind.” He shook his head as if to clear it. “I was trying to save the Circle when I encountered the demon.”

“Owain said you took the Litany of Adralla from the storeroom,” I said.

“He helped me greatly. But I suppose I will never be able to thank or repay him.”

“What do you mean? Surely there is a way out of here.”

“None that I have found, so far. This place... it drains you of everything. Hope, feeling, life. You see that pedestal over there?” He pointed to an intricately designed device off to his left. “I have studied the runes on it. They signify the different islands of this Sloth's domain. The Sloth Demon is on the center island, but you can’t get there. There are five other islands guarded by more demons. These islands surrounding the center one seem to form a protective barrier. There also seem to be some smaller outlying islands beyond the five, and I thought I could sense others trapped out there as well.”

“That must be my companions! I need to get to them and save them!” I exclaimed.

“I have already traveled to the outer islands, hoping to find a way to the Sloth Demon, but there is always some kind of obstacle barring your way - tiny holes, flame barriers, invisible doors - You will see the path to get to the minor demons but be unable to reach them. It taunts you and drives you mad. Defeating these minor demons seems to be the only way of getting to Sloth.”

“Well then, I must try. I need to save my friends and defeat the Sloth Demon. Show me this pedestal,” I told Niall. He walked with me to it.

“See here? This is where we are,” he said, pointing to a specific rune. “All you need to do is touch another rune and if you are able to travel to it, it will open a portal.”

“I understand.”

“I wish you luck then, Kylara. Perhaps you will be able to do what I could not.”

“Goodbye, Niall. I will succeed, and I will come back for you.” I said.

“Do not make promises you cannot keep,” he said sadly.

“I don’t,” I replied. I then touched the first rune and stepped through the portal.

 

I was now in a different area of the Fade. It was very small. I wandered around, but all I could find was a small hole and the portal that would take me back. Just then I heard a cry for help. I ran over a small rise and saw a rage demon attacking... a mouse? I quickly took my staff and cast a freeze spell. The rage demon disappeared with an angry hiss. I looked at the mouse. It seemed to just be an ordinary looking mouse, but then it spoke to me.

“Th-thank you,” it whispered. “But it is too late for me.” It gasped for breath and then said, “Kill Yevena, the demoness that rules here. She protects her master, Sloth. There is a door only demons can see. The key must be in another realm. T-take my power. Use it to get to places you could not get to... before.” It squealed in pain and then it was dead.

 _Take its power?_  What had the mouse meant by that? I suddenly felt a tingling energy that felt similar to the shapeshifting ability that Morrigan had been teaching me. I stood up and looked again at the tiny hole in the ground. Could I actually make myself small enough to get inside of it? No sooner than I thought about it, I was suddenly a mouse!

My whiskers twitched. I scampered over to the hole. My body easily fit inside. I ran through the tunnel and emerged into another area of the Fade. There was another rage demon in front of me. I could do naught in this form other than sneak by it, but what if there were other demons? I needed to find a way to fight. I had to will myself back into my normal form. Again, as soon as I thought it, it became real.

The rage demon saw me and immediately began attacking. Just as before, I took my staff and blasted it to bits. Another portal appeared, and I stepped through it. I walked down a path and saw a semi-transparent door floating in the air. I tried to reach it, but my hand passed right through it. I realized then that the key the mouse had referred to must be other shapeshifting abilities. They must be on the other islands. I walked past the door and after battling some more demons came to yet another portal. I went through.

Suddenly I was in front of Niall again. He didn’t seem surprised to see me. I walked up to him.

“See? What did I tell you...” he began, but then he took a closer look at me. “Wait. There is something different about you. What happened?”

I told him what had happened with the mouse, and how I now had the ability to get into the small holes. I also explained my theory about how other shapeshifting abilities must be the key to getting to Sloth. He looked hopeful.

“You must travel now to the other islands,” he said. “I can’t go with you, but I have a feeling that you will be the one to solve this and get to Sloth.”

I nodded and headed back to the pedestal. New runes were now available. I touched another and a new portal opened.

 

Over the next few hours (at least it felt like hours to me...), I battled my way across the different realms of the Sloth Demon. I had been right about the other shapeshifting abilities. There was a realm that had me battling numerous darkspawn, and in there I found a Templar Spirit who granted me a Spirit form. With it, I was able to enter one of the invisible doors and kill Yevena.

In yet another area where there was fire all around me, I found a Templar Dreamer. After saving him, I gained a Burning Man form. I could now walk through all of the fire barriers that had prevented me from crossing into certain areas. I had also gained some very strong fire spells that I was able to use against enemies. I found and killed two other demon bosses, Uthkiel the Crusher and Rhagos.

In a realm that looked like a twisted version of the Circle Tower, I found a Cursed Dreamer, and after freeing him, I gained a massive Stone Golem form. I was now able to smash open large locked doors.

Working my way back and forth, I finally found the last two demon guardians, Slavren and Vereveel. With them dead, I knew I could finally get to Sloth. But there was still the issue of my trapped friends. I teleported back to the island where Niall was and examined the pedestal again. In addition to the glowing rune indicating Sloth’s domain, there were now three smaller glowing runes on the edges of the pedestal. I touched the first one.

 

I found myself in a cheery looking home. I saw Alistair talking to a pretty woman, and all around them, children played. I was suddenly jealous. Who was this woman? I walked up to Alistair. He looked delighted to see me.

“Hey, it great to see you again!” he said as he gave me a hug. “I was just thinking about you! Isn’t that a marvelous coincidence?” The woman came up to his side. “This is my sister, Goldanna, and these are her children! There is Dayved, Lisbet, and Ioulia,” he said pointing to three children playing with toys by the hearth. “and over there is Amias and Raoul .” He pointed to two other children running around with toy swords. “We are one big happy family, at long last!”

“But... You don’t have a sister, Alistair.” At least, he’d never mentioned one to me.

“Oh, but I do!” he said enthusiastically. “Haven’t I told you about her before? We had different fathers, and she didn’t know about me at first. But now we have found each other! I am going to stay here and live with her!”

“But what about being a Grey Warden and fighting the Blight?” I asked him.

“What are you talking about? I’m no Grey Warden,” Alistair looked at me strangely.

I pulled him aside. “Alistair... this isn’t real. We are in the Fade. This is not your sister.”

Goldanna walked back over and took Alistair’s hand, pulling him away from me.

“I am so happy to have finally met my little brother. Alistair, is your friend going to stay for supper?”

“Ooh! Say you'll stay! Goldanna is a great cook. Maybe she'll make her mince pie! It’s wonderful!” He turned to her and asked, “You can, can't you?”

“Of course, dear brother. Anything for you.”

I pulled Alistair away from her again. “You have to remember how you got here. We were in the Circle Tower, and we were captured by a Sloth Demon. This is nothing more than a dream that the demon is trying to keep you trapped in!” Alistair looked confused. “You have to trust me, Alistair. This is not your sister, and these are not her children. They are all demons...”

Now Alistair got angry at me. “How can you say that?! Goldanna is the very soul of goodness! Maybe you need to leave. I don’t think I want you here anymore!”

I was crushed by his hurtful words. I had to prove to him that this wasn’t real. I brought my staff into attack position.

“Drop the act demon!” I shouted at ‘Goldanna’. “Release him... NOW!”

“He does not belong to you anymore!” It was Goldanna speaking, but the voice was now deep and angry. “He is ours, and I would rather see him dead than free!”

Suddenly all of the ‘children’ were gone, replaced by minor rage demons, and ‘Goldanna’ a gigantic one. I quickly shouted, “Crann de reothadh!” A large cone of cold appeared in front of me, destroying the minor demons. The huge demon screamed at me in anger and shot a gout of fire at me. It blasted me off my feet and I landed several meters away. I blacked out.

“NO!” Alistair shouted. He drew his sword.

The demon swiftly turned back into Goldanna. “Brother? You would attack your only sister? But I thought you loved me!”

Alistair shook his head in anger. “You will not fool me again! You are NOT my sister!” He swung his sword, but the Goldanna demon evaded it. She swung out with sharp claws on her fingers which just barely missed him. The two of them fought in earnest for several minutes, both not landing a blow on the other, until the demon made a critical mistake. Alistair blocked its attack with his shield and then brought his sword up, running the demon through its gut.

The Goldanna demon had a look of surprise and shock on its face. Then it screamed and burst into ash. Alistair quickly sheathed his sword and ran to my side.

“Kylara?” he said, gently cradling my head. “Please be all right!”

I moaned and opened my eyes. Alistair breathed a sigh of relief and helped me sit up.

“Is it... gone?” I asked as I rubbed the back of my head.

“Yes. I killed it,” Alistair replied.

“Thank the Maker.” I slowly stood up.

“So what now? How do we get out of here?” Alistair asked. No sooner than he said that, he began to shimmer and become transparent. “Wait! Where are you going? What is happening to me? Hey!” Then he vanished.

I could only hope he was now safe as I made my way to the now open portal.

 

Touching the second rune transported me to a Chantry building. In front of me was a kneeling Leliana. She was reciting the Chant of Light with a Revered Mother.

“Blessed art thou who exists in the sight of the Maker. Blessed art thou who seeks His forgiveness...”

“Leliana! Am I glad to see you!” I said.

“Blessed art – what?” She looked up at me. “W-who are you?”

“Don’t you recognize me? I am Kylara!”

The Revered Mother looked at me sternly. “Do not interrupt this child’s meditation! She has done evil, and must seek her forgiveness in the Maker!”

Leliana shook her head. “I... do not know you. Please... you must leave me. I must seek His forgiveness.”

“Leliana, we are friends. We are in the middle of an important task together,” I tried to explain.

“I do not understand what you are talking about. Please leave me alone,” she said.

“Please, do not confuse her,” the Mother scolded, “She needs quiet and solitude to calm her mind and heal her heart. You need to leave, now!”

I walked over to the Mother. “What have you done to her?”

“We have given her succor when she was lost. We have shown her the way, and now she is one of us.”

That didn’t sound good. I tried again. “Leliana, you are caught in a dream. This is a nightmare created by Sloth. You need to remember our mission.”

“But, I am happy here,” Leliana said. “This is all I have ever wanted.”

“Leliana. Listen to me. Think back to Lothering. You told me the Maker gave you a vision. Don’t you remember?”

Perplexed, she closed her eyes. “Yes, I think... there was a sign.”

The Revered Mother turned and pulled Leliana aside, though she still stared at me.

“Now, now my dear. We have discussed this ‘sign’ of yours. You know the Maker does not care to interfere in the affairs of us mortals. This ‘vision’ of yours is likely the work of demons.”

“Do not listen to her Leliana. Trust in what you know,” I begged.

Leliana faced the Mother. “The Maker cares for us. I believe he misses His wayward children as much as we miss Him. My vision may not be from Him, but it guides me to do what is right.” The Mother gripped Leliana arm. Leliana tried to free her arm from the Mother’s grip, as she said, “My Revered Mother knew this. I don’t know who you are... but you are not her!” She pulled harder, but the Mother wouldn’t let go.

“This is your home now, Leliana,” the Mother said in a normal voice, but as she continued the voice got deeper and more sinister. “You will not leave here ever again!”

Leliana screamed. “Let me go!”

I tried to reach Leliana, but the Mother’s other hand then grabbed me by my throat and lifted me off the ground. “Both of you will never leave,” she growled and began to transform into a huge behemoth. “You will both DIE here!” The hand that held Leliana now grabbed her entire body and began to squeeze.

I struggled to breathe. “Leliana...” I barely choked out, “You need to... kill this... thing... to... escape!”

Leliana quickly relaxed her body and pretended to pass out. The behemoth growled and loosed its grip slightly on her. It was all she needed. Using her quick acrobatic dexterity, she slid out of the monster’s grip, dropped to the ground, and grabbed her longbow, which had been lying on the ground near the ‘altar’ where she had been praying. She drew to bow and prepared to fire.

The behemoth quickly brought up the arm holding me in front of its body, using me as a shield.

“Shoot me, and you shoot your friend!” The creature began to laugh.

I looked into Leliana’s eyes. “I... trust you... Leliana. Go on... and shoot.”

Leliana nodded and loosed the arrow. It came within a hairsbreadth of my head but didn’t hit me. It went into the behemoth’s throat. The creature howled in pain and dropped me. I started gasping for air. Leliana quickly shot three more arrows, two went into the creature’s heart and one in its skull. It fell over… dead.

Leliana ran up to me. “Are you all right, Kylara?” I nodded as she helped me to stand.

“Yes,” I breathed. “I am fine.”

“I am glad,” she said. The Chantry building had now vanished. She looked around.

“Where are we?”

“In a nightmare created by Sloth. Killing that,” I pointed to the dead monster, “should set you free.” As I said it, she began to disappear slowly.

“Kylara? Where am I going? Where are you going?”

“Don’t worry, Leliana. You will be fine.” She then vanished.

 

The third rune brought me to a version of the Circle Tower much in the state it was currently. Wynne was kneeling on the floor, weeping. Surrounding her were the dead bodies of many mage students.

“Maker, forgive me. I’ve failed them all,” Wynne sobbed. “They died and I could not stop it.”

“Wynne?” I said as I came up to her. “Don’t believe what you see here. This is an illusion. We can still save the Circle.”

“No! We are too late!” she cried out. “Everyone is dead, and the Right of Annulment is about to be done. Please. Leave me to my grief...”

“Wynne, you must listen to me. We are in the Fade. This is a dream.” But she continued to cry.

“Why was I spared at Ostagar, if not to help them? What use is my life now that I have failed in the task that was given to me.” She looked up at me, and said, “Just leave me here! I will bury their bones, scatter their ashes to the four winds, and mourn their passing until I too am dead.”

“Wynne, please listen to me! You must fight this! This is not real!” I pleaded.

Her angry eyes said much. “Your blatant disregard for the souls of the dead is highly inappropriate! Why must you make this more painful?”

She was deeply entrenched in this nightmare. I had to snap her out of it. “Wynne, do you remember me? Do you know my name? Try to think about how you got here.”

She stood up and looked at me. “I do not know what this will accomplish, but... I will do this if it will satisfy you.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “It is... difficult... to focus. You are... Kylara. And... we were fighting... something. Why were we fighting? It feels as though something is... stopping me from concentrating. I’ve never had so much trouble before.” She opened her eyes and looked at me. “Yes, perhaps some time away from here will help me think clearly.”

I took her hand and started to lead her away, but then the dead students all got to their feet.

“Wynne? Where are you going?”

“Don’t leave us!”

“We don’t want to be alone!”

Wynne’s eyes widened in terror. “Holy Maker! You are not my students! Stay away, foul creatures!” She backed away even further.

Wynne and I watched in horror as the ‘students’ began shambling their way towards us, their skin falling off in rotting chunks, blood oozing everywhere.

“Wyyyynnnneee! Wyyynnnnnnneeee!” they cried out.

Wynne screamed. I grabbed her hand and shouted, “We need to defeat them in order to break the nightmare!” I quickly cast a glyph of repulsion to keep the monsters from advancing on us any further. “Wynne, I need you to concentrate! Help me, to help you!”

She nodded, though clearly still terrified.

“I will lend you some of my power,” I said. I clutched her hand tightly as she pulled out her staff. I closed my eyes and concentrated, giving some of my strength and willpower to Wynne.

She raised her staff high, and then slammed it on the ground and shouted, “Solas naomha, sgrios na naimhdean againn!” <Holy light, destroy our enemies!> A huge radius of white light burst out. The dead screamed and disintegrated into dust. Wynne and I both fell to our knees, exhausted.

A few moments later, I slowly got to my feet. Then I helped Wynne to stand. She turned to me and gave me a quick hug.

“Thank you, Kylara. Thank you for freeing me from that.” Then, like Alistair and Leliana, Wynne began to shimmer and disappear.

Now it was time to face off against Sloth.

 

I touched the rune in the center of the pedestal.

Before me stood Sloth, but in a different form than the one we had seen in the Tower. I approached it with my staff drawn.

“Well well... what do we have here? A rebellious minion? An escaped slave?” Sloth laughed, a deep guttural sound. “My, but you **do** have some gall. But playtime is over. You all have to go back now.”

I suddenly felt the presence of all my friends behind me. I smiled. “You tried to keep us apart, Sloth,” I said. “You led us from each other because you fear us. Don’t you?”

Wynne grabbed her own staff. “You will not hold us, demon. We defeated your nightmares, and now we will defeat you!”

Alistair readied his sword and shield and Leliana drew her bow.

“You’ve made dangerous enemies of us, by toying with our minds,” I said angrily.

Sloth tilted its head slightly and replied, “If you go back quietly, I’ll try to do much better next time. I’ll make you much happier...”

“I believe we will make our own happiness, thank you,” Alistair quipped.

Sloth slinked closer to us. “Can’t you think about someone other than yourselves? I’m hurt... so very hurt.”

I narrowed my eyes at the demon. “I think we’d just rather be rid of your evil now.”

Sloth growled. “You wish to battle me? Then so be it.” His form began to change. “You will learn to bow to your betters mortal!”

Sloth became a giant ogre. Wynne quickly backed off to heal, as Leliana began shooting. Alistair ran up to Sloth and began slashing it thick skin with his sword. I cast a shield spell on Alistair just in time, as Sloth backhanded him, knocking him off his feet. He landed a few meters away but got up, unhurt.

“Thanks for that, Kylara!” he shouted and ran back into the fray.

The battle raged on. Spells were cast, arrows fired in rapid succession, and sword and shield clashed with the demon. We could see the ogre starting to weaken, and I hollered, “We’ve got this!” When all of a sudden, the ogre vanished... only to be replaced by a large rage demon back at full health.

“Oh, that is **not** cool!” I muttered. Time for a change in tactics. I concentrated and summoned my Burning Man form. Both Wynne and Leliana’s eyes widened in surprise, but they quickly got back into the battle. We kept fighting until the rage demon disappeared. But Sloth wasn’t done with us yet. It now transformed into a giant abomination.

“What you can do Sloth, I can also do!” I shouted and changed into my Golem form. My massive stone fists pounded away at the Abomination-Sloth. It quickly went down. It screamed in rage at us and transformed yet again. This time it was a Shade. I stayed in Golem form.

“You just don’t know when to quit, do you?” I bellowed, my voice in Golem form sounding strange.

Sloth shrieked at us, renewing its attacks, but it was no match for my Golem. I pounded it into oblivion. A massive burst of energy actually knocked my Golem form back as Sloth transformed again. He was back in the form he had confronted us with here in the Fade, an Arcane Horror.

I transformed into my Spirit form to give me better spell resistance but knew I wouldn’t be able to do much damage in this form. Sloth cast a huge Blizzard spell, which as the Spirit, I was able to resist, but my friends got frozen in place. Once the spell stopped, I transformed back into myself and used a mana drain spell on Sloth. He didn’t like that one bit and charged at me. Quickly I changed into Golem and threw a massive punch at Sloth. The demon finally collapsed.

Leliana, Alistair, and Wynne all came up to me and gave me a group hug. After they released me, Wynne asked, “How did you do those transformations, Kylara? I have never seen magic like that before.”

“I got them here, in the Fade,” I replied. “As handy as they were, I don’t believe they will come with me once we leave here.”

“It just goes to show that even after all we are taught, there are still new things to learn,” Wynne said.

“There are forms of magic out there that are far older than what the Circle teaches us,” I sighed. “Perhaps we have let the Chantry restrict things a little too much?”

“That may be true,” Wynne replied, “but some of those older magics come with a price. We are probably better keeping things the way they are.”

I figured Wynne would say that. I only hoped I could still open her eyes someday.

Suddenly, Niall appeared in front of us.

“You did it! You defeated the demon, Sloth.” Niall looked relieved, but still somewhat sad. “I have to admit, I never expected that you would be able to free yourself and your friends. You were amazing...”

“You are free as well, Niall. I kept my promise.”

He shook his head. “When you return to the Tower, take the Litany of Adralla off of my body. Use it against Uldred and his blood mages. It will protect you from the worst of their magic.”

“Y-you’re not coming with us?” I asked.

“I... cannot. You have freed me, but I have been here too long. My spirit will not be able to return to my body. Sloth drained me too much.”

“Oh, Niall. I am so sorry,” I said softly.

“Don’t be. I was never meant to save the Circle. You, on the other hand, are a true hero Kylara. You will be able to defeat Uldred and save everyone. I know this now.”

I hugged the shade of Niall. He slowly began to disappear. “Maker watch over you, Niall,” I said, tears streaming down my face.

“And you as well,” his whispered. “Thank you, my friend. Goodbye...” He then vanished.

I turned to my companions. Wynne and Leliana were also crying. Alistair was holding back, but I could see that he was still saddened by the loss of Niall.

I wiped my tears away. “Let’s get out of here.” I took their hands into mine and we left the Fade together.

 


	10. The Battle with Pride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylara and her friends must now face off against Uldred, the mage who has caused the chaos. Will they be able to save everyone?

We were back in the Circle Tower. Slowly, we picked ourselves off of the floor. The withered carcass of the Sloth demon lay on the floor, next to Niall’s corpse. I gently knelt down and closed Niall’s eyes. I then took the Litany from his body and handed it to Wynne. She nodded solemnly.

Together, we headed up the stairs to the final floor before the Harrowing Chamber.

Even more fleshy masses covered the walls up here, and some of them were pulsing. I shuddered. This was utterly vile magic. We walked into the next room to find a lone Templar imprisoned by a shining barrier of magic. I gasped in shock when I realized it was my old friend Cullen. I ran up to the barrier, but he shied away from me.

“Cullen!” I cried out. “It’s me, Kylara!”

“No... Stay back! This... trick again! I know what you are, and it won’t work! I will… stay strong!” He knelt down to pray.

“Don’t you... recognize me?” I asked. What had they done to his mind?

He sighed, still kneeling in prayer. “Only too well. How far they must have delved into my thoughts...”

Wynne put a hand on my shoulder. “The boy is exhausted... and this cage. I’ve never seen anything like it.” She turned to Cullen’s trembling form. “Rest easy, son. Help is here.”

Cullen shuddered. “Enough visions! If anything in you is human, please kill me now and stop this game!”

“He has been tortured,” Leliana whispered to me. “They have probably kept him without food and water. He is delirious.” She tried to approach Cullen. “I have some water...”

“No!” he shouted. “Stay away from me!” He rocked back in forth, still on his knees, and began muttering in a low voice. “...sifting through my thoughts. Temping me with the one thing I had always wanted but could never have! Using my shame against me! My infatuation with her! A mage of all things! Still, she was so beautiful, with her flowing chestnut hair and her deep blue eyes...”

Leliana gasped. “I... think he is talking about you, Kylara...”

Cullen continued to mumble. “So tired of these cruel jokes! These tricks! These… visions!”

I never knew Cullen had liked me more than as a friend... and with his vows, not being able to confess or act on his feelings? I felt horrible. I had never meant to hurt him that way. I knelt down to try and face him.

“Cullen,” I said softly. “I-I am sorry. I never knew you felt that way... about me. Please, look at me.” He slowly raised his head up. “Please, can you forgive me?”

“You... bewitched me,” he moaned, “You tempted me with your soft voice and your tender touches. Why? When you… You knew! You knew my vows, and yet you still…” he cried out. “Just… leave me. Leave me!” He closed his eyes and muttered, “The Maker knows my sin. I pray he will forgive me one day.”

I slowly stood up, tears on my face as well. I didn’t know what to do. Cullen had been my friend, and I had hurt him without even realizing it. I turned to Wynne and Leliana, but neither of them could think of anything to say. Then I looked at Alistair, but his expression was unreadable.

“I was young,” I said. “I had no idea that he… that I…” I sobbed. “I never meant to hurt him!”

Leliana gave me a brief hug. “We will figure it out. Right now, we need to get him out from this prison.”

We turned to face Cullen. To my surprise, he was now standing to face us. There was anger and suspicion on his face, but he was lucid. He spoke clearly now.

“You really are here. I thought you another illusion. Another trick. But you are not. Why have you returned to the Tower? How did you survive?”

“I am a Grey Warden now,” I said, my voice still trembling a little. “I needed to get the mages help against the Blight... but I also sensed there was trouble here. When Knight-Commander Greagoir told me what had happened, I knew I had to help.”

Cullen just stared at me for a moment, then said plainly, “Kill Uldred. Kill them all for what they have done!” His expression darkened with anger. “They caged us like animals. They sought ways to break us. I-I’m the only one left. They turned some of us into… monsters… and there was nothing I could do.”

“Where are First Enchanter Irving and the other mages?”

“They are still up in the Harrowing Chamber. I still can hear t-their screams,” Cullen said with terror in his voice. “You must kill everyone up there! They are most likely all infected with abominations now!” Then to himself, he muttered, “And to think I once thought we were too hard on you!”

That last statement worried me. Cullen had been one of the few Templars that had been kind to us mages. Had his heart been so hardened by this? Was he going to be like this from now on? Damn Uldred for doing this to Cullen and all of the others!

“Please, Cullen. Not all mages are evil. I...” I started to say, but he cut me off.

“Hah! My eyes have been opened. The naiveté I once had is now gone. Only mages have that much power at their fingertips. Only mages are susceptible to the infernal whispering of demons!”

“Enough!” Wynne said firmly. “This is a discussion for another time!” She turned to me and said, “We must hurry! They are in grave danger, I am sure of it!”

Cullen turned to Wynne and said, “You can’t save them! You don’t know what they have become!”

I pleaded with Cullen, “But we can’t just kill everyone!”

“You haven’t been up there. You could just as easily fall under their influence! Those blood mages up there... Their wicked fingers will snake into your mind and corrupt your thoughts!”

“We have the Litany of Adralla,” I said. “It will protect us against their influence.”

His eyes narrowed. “Where did you get that?”

“From a very brave mage who died while trying to save the Circle,” I replied.

Cullen turned back to Wynne and asked, “Will this work?”

“It will protect us,” she said. “Adralla was a deeply pious mage. She was renowned in her day for having found a counter to every form of mind control, a defense against dream walkers, and even counter-spells to demonic summons.”

Cullen was still skeptical. But finally said, “Go. Kill Uldred... but know that I will never trust you mages ever again.”

 

We headed up to the last flight of stairs to the Harrowing Chamber. During our interactions with Cullen, I noticed that Alistair had been silent. I wondered what he was thinking, but knew it would have to wait until Uldred was dead and the First Enchanter safe.

We opened the last door to a horrific sight. Uldred and two huge abominations were torturing a young male mage. The First Enchanter and two other senior mages were huddling in a corner of the chamber. I was glad to see they were still alive, but they didn’t look so good.

Uldred finally stopped the torture. The young man could hardly move, so Uldred held his face up by his chin and asked, “Do you accept this gift that I offer?” Then he let go. The man’s face drooped, which Uldred apparently took as a ‘yes’. He and the abominations then cast a different spell. The mage screamed and convulsed on the floor. In mere moments, he had been changed. Another abomination now stood with the first two.

Uldred then turned to face me. “Ah, look what we have here. I remember you. Irving’s star pupil. Hmm, I didn’t think much of you then, and I certainly don’t see your appeal now.”

“Well, I am not very impressed with you either,” I spat back at him.

“Hmmph, well I suppose one can’t be loved universally,” he drawled. “I will say that I am surprised that you made it up this far. Unfortunately, this means you have killed off all my servants. Ah well, I can always make more.”

“Why are you turning everyone into abominations? What purpose does that serve?”

“I am freeing them! A mage is nothing but the larval form of something greater! The Chantry vilifies us, but all we are doing is reaching our full potential!” He then gestured at Irving and the senior mages. “Look at them! The Chantry has them convinced. They deny themselves the pleasure of becoming something... glorious!”

“You’re crazy!” I shouted at Uldred. “There is nothing glorious about those... those things you created!” I pointed to the three abominations. “They look like a festering cesspool! If you think anyone wants to truly look like that, then you’re crazy, Uldred!”

He laughed. “Uldred? He is gone. I am Uldred and yet not Uldred. I am much more than he was!” He then strolled over to me and cupped my face in his hands. I shuddered. His hands were ice cold. “You are a very pretty girl. I can see why he liked you - despite his vows of celibacy.”

I tried to shake myself free, but Uldred held on tight. “I don’t know what you did to Cullen, but you leave him out of this!”

“I did nothing to him other than peer into his thoughts. If that brought out his deepest fears and desires, well that is just a **terrible** side effect, isn’t it? Now, why don’t we just sit and have a little chat. You might like what I have to offer you. Your raw potential, with the strength of a demon behind it, would be unstoppable!”

“Nothing you have to say will tempt me,” I growled. “Now get your filthy hands off of me!”

He finally let me go. “It would be so much easier if you and all the other mages would just accept my gift. But some people can be so stubborn!”

From the corner, Irving barely managed to speak. “S-stop him... he is... building an army. He is trying... to destroy the Templars and – ”

“Oh, you are a sly little fox, Irving,” Uldred smirked, “Telling on me like that... and here I thought you were starting to turn.”

“N-never!” Irving grated out.

“What have you done to him!” Wynne shouted.

“He will serve me eventually. As will you...” He laughed cruelly. “You can fight, if you must, but that will just make my victory all the sweeter!”

Suddenly where Uldred had been, there was a huge demonic being. We backed off.

“He’s merged himself with a Pride Demon!” Wynne shouted. “Be ready to use the Litany, Kylara!” She tossed the scroll to me. I caught it and stood close to the First Enchanter. Leliana began shooting arrows at the three abominations to get them dealt with. I cast my strongest area spells to help Leliana with the abominations. Alistair circled around the Pride demon, looking for an opening to strike. Wynne started casting protection and healing where needed.

One of Pride’s abominations fell, he screeched in anger and began chanting. One of the senior mages began shaking.

“The Litany, Kylara! Use it! he’s trying to convert another!”

I opened the Litany and read the chant:

 

Feumaidh sinn dìon bhon ionnsaigh seo air ar inntinn.

<We need protection from this attack on our mind.>

Cuidich sinn gus na h-innealan dorcha seo a dhiùltadh.

<Help us to refuse these dark tools.>

Thoir neart dhuinn gus sabaid an olc seo.

<Give us strength to fight this evil.>

Cùm ar n-inntinn dhuinn fhèin.

<Keep our minds for ourselves.>

 

The senior mage relaxed. I then focused my attacks on the next two abominations, Combined with Leliana’s attacks, they soon died. Pride roared angrily and knocked Alistair aside. It began to chant again. This time the First Enchanter was the target. I repeated the Litany again. Irving collapsed, safe. Now I focused my attacks on Uldred/Pride, as Alistair ran up and began attacking in earnest. With all of us working together, Pride soon went down.

We all breathed a sigh of relief. I assisted the First Enchanter to stand.

“Oh, Maker,” he groaned. “I’m getting too old for this.”

“Are you all right, Irving?” Wynne asked with concern.

“I’ve… ugh… been better. But I am thankful to be alive. But I suppose that was your doing, Wynne?”

“I wasn’t alone,” she said. “I had some excellent help.”

Irving turned to me. “I was surprised to see you here, Kylara. But I am glad that you returned.” He sighed. “The Circle owes you a debt we will never be able to repay.”

“All I ask, First Enchanter, is that you can hopefully assist the Grey Wardens against this Blight.”

“We have few of us left in number, but what help we can give, we gladly will. I am very proud of you, Kylara. Come, we must let Greagoir know that the Tower is ours again.” He groaned in pain again, and then said, “I will need you to help guide me down the stairs. Ah, curse whoever insisted that the Circle be held in a tower!”

 

As we left the Harrowing Chamber, I noticed the barrier that had held Cullen was now gone, and he was nowhere to be found. He must have already headed back down to talk to Greagoir.

We got the First Enchanter down to his office, where Wynne insisted that he rest there for a bit. I walked back down to the area where we had met Wynne - where Sten, Morrigan, and the rest were waiting. It was then that I remembered the ritual with the statues. I looked at the door leading to the Tower’s basement and wondered if this was what the whispering statue had meant by “below”. I walked over to the door.

Alistair saw me and asked, “What are you doing, Kylara?”

I didn’t answer. I touched the handle of the door. All of a sudden it burst open. An unholy roar reverberated throughout the room. A massive creature shambled out of the door.

“I… am… FREE!” it shouted.

 _Oh shit, I am going to be in so much trouble!_ I thought. I grabbed my staff and began attacking the creature. Quickly, Sten, Alistair, Leliana, Morrigan and the other mages all grabbed their weapons to help me. Winston shepherded the children to a safe area.

“What have you done?” Morrigan yelled at me.

“I… don’t know! There was this ritual…” I started, but Alistair cut me off.

“Fight now, talk later!” he shouted.

“You dare attack Shah Wyrd?!” the creature hissed. “You will all BURN!” It threw out a massive fire spell at all of us. We circled, looked for openings, and attacked when and where we could.

Morrigan and I focused on ice spells, as that seemed to do the most damage. Finally, with a swing of Alistair’s sword, the creature went down. Everyone then glared at me.

“I-I am sorry! I had no idea!” I looked at my feet and mumbled, “How was I supposed to know that they had a thing like that trapped here…”

“This is why you probably shouldn’t have fiddled with those statues,” Alistair admonished. He put his arm around me. “Still, no real harm was done. We defeated it.” Then he spotted something shining on the floor. “Hey, where did that come from?”

We walked over to where this Shah Wyrd had fallen. In its remains, a long two-handed sword was glinting. I picked it up and breathed in awe.

“I know this sword. I read about it in one of our history tomes. This is Yusaris – The Dragonslayer!”

“I have never heard of it,” Alistair said.

“It is a very old, and very powerful sword. I will have to ask the First Enchanter if we may keep it. If the archdemon is a dragon – or former dragon – this might come in very handy,” I replied.

Just then, Wynne and the First Enchanter came into the room. He looked around, and then said, “What happened here?”

Everyone started talking at once. He raised his hand for silence and then beckoned me over. I quietly explained about the note I had found, the statues, and what happened when I touched the door. Then I showed him the sword.

“Why, I haven’t seen this blade in years! And you say you got it from the remains of this… Shah Wyrd? I have never heard of such a being. But then again… we have so many magical items locked up here, it doesn’t really surprise me,” he said.

“Do you think we may keep it, First Enchanter? It might come in handy in our fight against the archdemon…”

“I don’t see why not. I’ll just pretend I know nothing about what you just told me.” He smiled at me gently. “Come now, let us go and speak to Greagoir now, before his reinforcements arrive.”

 

We banged on the locked doors and shouted for the Knight-Commander to let us out. After several minutes, the locks were removed and the doors creaked open. I saw Cullen standing next to his commander. He glared when he saw me. My heart broke to see my former friend staring at me with such hatred.

“Maker’s Breath! Irving, you are all right! I… honestly did not expect to see you alive,” Greagoir said.

“It is over, Greagoir. Uldred is dead. He was the one responsible for this… mess.”

Cullen stepped up to his commander. “Uldred tortured these mages, hoping to break their wills and turn them into abominations. We don’t know how many of them have turned.”

Irving stared at Cullen in disbelief. “What?! Don’t be ridiculous!”

Cullen continued. “Of course he’d say that! He might be a blood mage, sir! Don’t you know what they did to my Templar brothers? To… me? I will not let this happen again!”

Greagoir put his hand up to silence Cullen. “I am the Knight-Commander here, not you.”

“Well, what do you think then, sir?” I asked of Greagoir. “I did as I promised.”

“That you did. We have won back the Tower. I will accept Irving’s assurance that all is well.

“B-but sir, they may have demons in them… just lying in wait!” Cullen ranted.

“Enough!” Greagoir shouted. “Stand down, Cullen. I have already made my decision.” He turned to me. “Thank you, Kylara. You have proven yourself to be both a friend of the Circle and the Templars. If you want our aid against the Blight, you will have it.”

“First Enchanter Irving has promised me aid. We should be fine.”

Greagoir nodded. “Very well then. I suppose we should now all get this mess cleaned up.”

I bowed to him and then started to do the same for the First Enchanter, but he stopped me.

“No need to bow to me, you are more than our equal now, Kylara. I am glad that you arrived when you did. It’s almost as if the Maker Himself sent you. Thank you, for everything.”

“Irving?” Wynne spoke up. “I have a request. I’d like to take leave and help Kylara, Alistair, and their companions against the Blight.”

“Wynne, we need you here. The Circle needs you,” Irving said.

“I appreciate the sentiment, Irving,” Wynne replied. “But the Circle will do just fine without me. The Circle has you. I know Kylara will be doing great things as a Grey Warden, and I want to do all I can to help her with that.”

“I would be honored to have you, Wynne,” I said.

Irving chuckled. “You were never one to stay in the Tower when there was an adventure to be had elsewhere, Wynne. Just know that you will always have a place here. Both of you.”

 


	11. Back to Camp and Heading to Redcliffe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Circle has been saved and now the group begins their journey to Redcliffe. Alistair and Kylara's budding relationship grows. Can two Grey Wardens find love as war rages on around them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An absolutely gorgeous drawing of Alistair and Kylara by Lake Calenhad by the sensational Agregor (https://www.deviantart.com/agregor)

Before we left the Tower, I mentioned to Greagoir about how Carroll had treated us when we had arrived. Although he had only been doing his job, Greagoir was not happy about how Carroll had handled it. When we finally left (in two boats, rowed by Templars) we passed Carroll who had been recalled back to the Tower. I pulled a face at him and giggled as we traveled back to the docks. Alistair laughed at me.

Kester was also very happy to have his “Lissie” back. He gave me a hearty slap on the back, and bid us goodbye.

We finally set out on the road heading south back to our camp. I hoped that Bodahn and Sandal were both doing all right.

By nightfall of day one back on the road, we were back near the field where Sten’s sword had been lost. I could see in his unhappy expression that he was feeling that he would never have it back in his hands. I wished I could reassure him that we would still be searching; we still had to check with Faryn once we made our way to Orzammar. But it was clear that Sten was in no mood to talk.

I went over to Morrigan’s area after we had eaten our supper. She still seemed to be a little angry at me, but that quickly changed when I showed her the tome I had found in Irving’s office. I had come to simply ask her opinion on it, but when she saw me take it out of my pack, her face fell in surprise.

“’Tis Flemeth’s Grimoire! Where did you find this?!” she exclaimed.

I handed it over to her. “I found it in Irving’s office. Why would he have your mother’s spellbook?”

‘Twas lost long ago when some Templars had raided her home. This was before I had been born, but she lamented its loss for a long time.” She stroked the cover of the book. “I cannot wait to begin a study of this tome and learn all that my Mother was hiding from me. Thank you.”

As I got up to leave, Morrigan said, “If you wish to continue the shapeshifting lessons, we can start again tomorrow eve.”

“I will. Thanks, Morrigan.” It seemed as though she had forgiven me for my earlier mistake in not telling Wynne the truth of our rescue. With that very thought in my mind, I sought out Wynne.

“Good evening, Kylara.” She smiled as I sat next to her. “Whew, I must admit I am not used to quite so much walking. But I will get used to it, I am sure.”

“We have a ways to go before we get to our permanent campsite, but then Alistair is going to want to head to Redcliffe afterwards. So I am afraid we won’t have a lot of resting time.”

“It is all right, I signed up for this mission, and I intend to see it through,” she said. “But I am guessing that you came here to chat with me for something else… not my sore feet.”

I chuckled but then nodded. “Have you had much of a chance to get to know Morrigan?” I asked.

“No, not too much. I know she is a mage, and not of the Circle, but that is about all.”

“You are all right with her being an apostate?”

“I am a bit surprised by it. But she is still assisting us, and that is good. Where did you find her?”

“I need to tell you the whole story about how Alistair and I survived Ostagar. Well, it all began when the King and Duncan sent us to light the beacon at Ishal…”

 

My tale finally finished, Wynne was near tears. “I am still so **furious** that Loghain betrayed us like that! To what end? We lost our King and you and Alistair nearly died on that tower!” She blew out an angry sigh, then said, “I have to also admit, I am surprised to hear that Flemeth is Morrigan’s mother. It does make one wonder if she might indeed be the Flemeth from the legend… but I suppose we may never know.” She smiled gently at me. “Thank you for telling me this, Kylara.” She yawned. “Oh, I suppose I need to get some sleep now. Rest these old bones of mine.”

I got up to leave. “Sleep well, Wynne.”

 

Day two, and we were making fairly good progress. I was walking next to Alistair with Sten right behind us. Leliana and Wynne were walking together, chatting lively, and Morrigan brought up the back of our group with Winston. She kept trying to shoo him away, but he wasn’t having any of that. Finally, she gave up and just ignored him.

“I am glad you told us to go to the Tower first,” Alistair said to me as we walked. “If we had not, the Tower and the Circle would have been no more. I should definitely listen to you from now on. Especially when you have one of those… hunches.”

“I am glad we were able to defeat Uldred. He would have destroyed everything that First Enchanter Irving had worked so hard to build over the years. And to think, Uldred was in league with Loghain!”

“Loghain **will** pay. Somehow we will find a way to take that tyrant down!” Alistair took a calming breath. “First, we do need to get Arl Eamon’s support. It will be vital in the Landsmeet.”

“What is a Landsmeet?” I asked.

“The Landsmeet is a council of the Ferelden noble classes. It has been held annually for a very, very long time, only occasionally interrupted by war or foreign occupation or a Blight. It essentially functions as the official legislative body for Ferelden and can override the king or queen on any matter of law. During the Landsmeet the current monarch is expected to mingle with and curry favor from his or her vassals. But now that Cailan is gone, I don’t know what is going on in Denerim now. Technically, Anora – she is the Queen – would be the current monarch, but from what we are hearing, Loghain is trying to rule as regent… and he also happens to be Anora’s father.”

“She is Loghain’s daughter? Does that mean we can’t even trust the King’s widow?” I asked.

“I don’t know for sure. Yes, Cailan and Anora were married, and while he was the King, from what I know she is the one who really ruled, not Cailan.”

“This does give us something to think about.”

“Indeed it does,” Alistair said thoughtfully. He was silent for a moment, and the asked me, “Could you tell me what happened while we were trapped in Sloth’s Fade realm? It’s like a distant dream to me… I can’t really remember what happened.”

Maybe it was because I was the one who had freed everyone, it was all still very fresh in my mind. “You were in a house… with another woman, and a bunch of children. You said she was your sister.” I paused when I saw Alistair’s eyes widen.

“I-I do have a sister. She is older than me… a lot older… I believe about thirteen years. We had different fathers and were raised apart from each other. The only reason I knew about her is that some of the other servants mentioned her. They said she had been apprenticed and sent away from the castle right after my birth, so she and I have never met, but I did a little bit of digging once I was in the Wardens, and I found out she's alive and living in Denerim. Perhaps, if we find ourselves there… maybe we could look her up?”

“I suppose we could. You really want to meet her?” I asked.

“I think I would. I never really had a family, you see. My mother died when I was very young, and I never knew my father. Arl Eamon raised me.”

“So there is another reason you wanted to get to Redcliffe. Arl Eamon is more than just a ruler we need on our side at this Landsmeet… You know him personally.”

Alistair nodded, then asked, “What else happened in the Fade?”

“Well, you saw me, and at first you were happy. You introduced me to your… sister and her kids, and tried to get me to stay for dinner.”

“Stay for dinner? Interesting. Wait, you said I was happy to see you at first? What did you mean by… at first?”

“Your sister and her children were not real. They were demons sent by Sloth to keep you trapped in his realm. When I tried to explain this to you, you got angry at me. You said you didn’t want to see me again.” I was sure my voice quivered at that, even though I knew it hadn’t been real.

“Well, how rude of me! I will just have to go and have a talk with my Fade self, and tell him he is an idiot!” Alistair grinned at me.

I burst out in laughter. “That is something I’d just have to see!”

Alistair laughed with me. After a few moments, when the two of us had calmed down a bit, he then asked, “So what happened after that?”

“Um, this is where it gets a bit tricky. You see, after I exposed the main demon by killing off the smaller ones, the large demon blasted me with a fire spell. I must have blacked out because the next thing I knew you were holding me. I think I remember you saying that you killed the demon after it hit me.”

“I see… and after that, I remember facing off against Sloth. So I guess that covers that.” He was thoughtful for a moment, then asked, “What about Wynne and Leliana’s nightmares? Do you remember what happened in them?”

“Leliana was back in the Chantry praying for forgiveness, and she didn’t remember me at first. The Revered Mother was the demon in her dream. Wynne was in the Circle Tower surrounded by her dead students, and then they came back to life and started attacking.”

“That can't have been pleasant.”

“But of course, we were successful. Or we wouldn’t be here now,” I said.

“That’s true.”

“I’m just glad it all worked out in the end, and that the Tower can sort of go back to normal,” I said. Just then, Sten spoke up.

“This… Tower that we were in. This the prison for your mages?”

I slowed down a little to draw even with Sten. “It was not a prison! Even though I could not leave the building, I still lived there for some time quite happily. We had dormitories, places to bathe and eat, a library for our research. Senior mages taught us new spells. Why would you call it a prison?”

“It was still a prison. A gilded one, but a prison nonetheless. You were kept under constant watch, and as you said, you were not allowed to leave.”

His statement had me flabbergasted. I guess I truly had never thought of it that way. I glanced at Alistair, who looked just as shocked as I. Neither one of us could think of any response to that.

Sten then said, “Our prison for our mages is not so grand.”

I was afraid to ask… but I did anyway. “What do you mean?”

“Qunari don’t really have mages such as you do. We have beasts in the shape of men who perform tricks.”

“I don’t understand. Beasts can’t do magic,” I said.

“Some men act the part of beasts,” he replied as if that explained everything. I started to get cross.

“Are you calling **me** a beast?”

“You have your moments.”

_Oh, ouch…_

Now I was angry. “Are you sure you want to say that to my face?”

“Without constructive criticism, how will you improve?” he replied without missing a beat. I saw Alistair wince.

“What do you mean your mages are ‘beasts’?”

“I misspoke,” Sten said. “They are not beasts. Beasts learn… eventually.”

_Fine, if that’s how it is…_

“Then you don’t have mages?” I asked.

“Qunari have mages. We simply don’t have the sort that you do.”

_Huh?_

I sighed. “Why do you have different mages than we have?”

“For the same reason that we do not light our own houses on fire, or invite locusts into our fields.”

_Come again?_

He continued. “Our mages are controlled to do less harm than yours. They have their tongues cut out and are kept in pens.”

_Yikes!_

“That is horrible!” Alistair exclaimed. Sten just gave him a look and shrugged.

I still didn’t understand why Sten was so against magic. “What is so terrible about magic?”

“Mages,” he sighed. “Is there some reason you insist upon discussing this?”

Giving a half-smile I said, “I’m trying to figure you out.” That got a chuckle out of Alistair.

“Then I applaud your attempt to pursue knowledge… irritating as it may be.”

“Do you always have to be so difficult?!”

“Nothing worthwhile is easy.”

_As indifferent as ever..._

“You know **I** am a mage, Sten.”

“You are better than most.”

_Was that supposed to be a compliment??_

“That’s not the point!” I shouted.

“If you have held on to your honor, does it matter if I believe others of your kind have not? You are not responsible for them.”

_Okay, that is true…_

“Why do you think mages are evil?”

“I know nothing of mages themselves. Only their actions. You live in this world, just as I do. You already know what magic is.”

“And what is magic?”

“A sword with no hilt,” he replied impassively.

“Mages are not as dangerous as you say.”

“Do those Templars at the bottom of the tower agree with you? And what of this… Uldred you mentioned?”

“That was… an unusual case.”

“Not unusual enough.”

“You can’t have seen anything like this before.”

“Can’t I? My home has been under attack from the mage-lords of Tevinter for all of my lifetime. I have seen what magic is and what it does.”

I pinched my head with my fingers. “Then you are going to condemn all mages for the mistakes of a few?”

“My people have a tale: An ashkaari walked among the fields once, observing the laborers at work. Flax bloomed all around him, the color of still water. The air rippled like a curtain. As he stopped to examine a blossom, a bee stung him on the hand. The ashkaari turned to a laborer for aid and noticed for the first time the heavy coat and gloves she wore. As she tended to him, the ashkaari asked her why she was dressed so in such stifling heat. ‘To avoid your fate,’ she replied. ‘But there are many thousands of bees here,’ the ashkaari said to her, ‘and only one stung me. Surely your caution is unwarranted?’ ‘The stinger is always a surprise,’ agreed the laborer. ‘But so is the bee that simply passes one by.’”

“But bees don’t know the consequences like mages do.”

“It costs a bee its life to sting a man. What does it cost a mage?”

_Well, that does give me something to think on..._

“Not all magic is evil, you know,” I mumbled.

“‘As a fish stranded by the tide knows the air or a drowning man knows the sea, so does a mage know magic.’” Sten quoted.

“Everything can be dangerous in excess,” I replied.

“Can you have just a ‘little drowning’? Some things only come in excess.”

_Arrgh!_

“But knowledge is not as deadly as ignorance,” I countered.

“Knowledge is only one-half of wisdom.” Sten gave me a stern look. “There are many things that can only be known too late.”

I exhaled in frustration. “Then why do we have magic at all, if it’s so evil?”

“We live in this world, and magic is a part of it. One might as well reject the sky.”

_Sigh…_

 

True to her word, Morrigan called me over after dinner.

“Ready to resume the lessons?”

I was nervous, but went ahead and sat next to Morrigan on the ground. She proceeded to again explain the incantation and how to envision the animal I wanted to be. Then said, “Whenever you are ready…”

I closed my eyes. I then thought back to my time in the Fade; how the shapeshifting worked there. Even though I knew the forms I had had there would not work in the real world (perhaps with the exception of the mouse), I thought I could use some of the knowledge I had at least retained. I focused on a rabbit, said the incantation in my head, felt the familiar tingle, and…

I was low on the ground, my nose twitching, and looking up at a very surprised Morrigan. I hopped around for a moment, then thought the reverse spell. I felt myself shift back to my human form.

“How did you learn that so quickly?” Morrigan said in a shocked tone.

So I told her of my time in the Fade, in Sloth’s domain, and the shapeshifting I had done there. She nodded, impressed.

“Let’s have you try a different animal. How about a cat?”

As before, I focused on the form, said the spell, and… I was a cat. I jumped up on Morrigan’s lap.

“Oh, you think that is cute?”

“Meow?” I meowed at her.

She laughed, lifted me off of her lap and set me back on the ground.

I transformed back.

“You are a surprise Kylara. I think even Mother would be impressed.” She stood, and helped me up. “’Tis nothing more that I can teach here. Now… off to sleep.”

 

Just before I got to my bedroll, I saw Alistair get up from his side of the camp. He came over to me.

“Hey,” he said nervously. “Do you, um, maybe want to… I don’t know… take a walk with me? It is a nice night.”

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

“Really?” His eyes lit up happily.

So the two of us headed away from the camp and strolled down to the Lake Calenhad shore. There was a large log on the bank. I knelt down and stuck my hand in the water.

“Ooh! That water is cold!” I commented.

Alistair smiled at me. Then he sat on the log facing away from the water, so his boots wouldn't get wet. I turned to look at him. I could just make out the campfires in the distance behind us.

“It is a pretty night,” I commented. Satina was low in the sky in the northwest. 

“Yes.” He smiled gently, then pat the log next to him.“Come… Sit with me.”

“All right.” I walked over, but just as I was getting ready to sit, he grabbed my waist and pulled me down onto his lap. I squealed and laughed a little. 

“Maker's Breath, but you are beautiful,” he sighed as he rested his hand on my hip.

“So, did you want to talk about anything in particular, or just enjoy the view?” I murmured.

“I do enjoy the view,” he whispered quietly, gazing at me.

I blushed, then said quietly, “You know, bringing me out here alone… Tongues will wag back at camp.” My arms moved up to gently rest on his shoulders.

“Let them…” His hand reached up and touched my chin, tilting my head slightly. Then he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. I gasped a little in surprise. Alistair took the opportunity to deepen the kiss a bit more. My eyes closed in bliss. It was a tender kiss but definitely filled with passion. I kissed him back, hesitant at first, but when it became clear that he was enjoying it, I got a bit bolder.

After several minutes, he gave one gentle final brush of his lips against mine and then slowly drew back.

“Wow…” he breathed.

I opened my eyes slowly to stare into his. They were glowing softly in the dark of the night. Mine probably were as well.

“I hope that wasn’t too much,” he said softly.

I slowly shook my head. “No. It was… perfect.”

He beamed. “That is good. Because… I’d like to do that again.”

So we did.

 

Much later, we quietly snuck back into the camp. Everyone was asleep. I carefully made my way to my bedroll. Alistair gave me one last kiss, but this one short and tender.

“Goodnight, Kylara. I really enjoyed tonight.”

“I did too,” I replied quietly.

“Hopefully we can do that again… sometime?”

I nodded. “I would like that.” Winston came up to me from where he had been lying earlier. He cocked his head quizzically. I yawned. “I need some sleep.”

“Good thing about having a wardog in the group, we don’t need to keep as thorough a watch,” Alistair said, and then he too yawned. “See you in the morning.” He then walked over to his camp near Sten and lay down.

“Come on, boy,” I said to Winston. “Let’s get some rest.” I lay down on my bedroll. Winston lay on the grass near me, and soon we were all asleep.

 

By day four, we were getting into a good pace with our walking. I was chatting with Leliana when a woman came running up the road towards us, panic in her face.

When she got to us, she had to stop and catch her breath for a moment, but then said, “Oh, thank the Maker! We need help! Bandits! They attacked our wagon! Please, help us!”

“Show us where!” Alistair quickly said.

“This way!” the woman shouted and began to lead us up the road. We followed.

Five minutes later, we approached a turned over wagon with some dead oxen. Something didn’t look right to me, however. The oxen looked a little too dead, like they had been that way for a few days. We saw the woman stop in front of a thin, blond elf and nod. Then behind us, a massive tree crashed to the ground. It was a trap!

All around us, we suddenly had bows and arrows pointed at us, and what looked to be a few mages readying hostile spells.

_Shit!!_

All at once they began attacking. I dodged the arrows and spells flying in my direction and looked at Morrigan who nodded. I quickly closed my eyes, thought the spell…

She ran up one side as a wolf, I ran up the other as a bear. She jumped with teeth bared and quickly took down an archer. I roared and used my massive paws to take down two of the mages. Leliana was using her own longbow to shoot the other archers. Winston jumped up and knocked down the blond elf, who seemed to be the one issuing commands. In no time, it was over. They were all dead.

I transformed back to my human form to find Winston still on top of the blond elf, his jaws clamped on the elf’s throat.

“Winston! Release him!” He immediately obeyed. It seemed the elf was still alive, but unconscious.

I quickly cast a spell to bind his arms and legs. Leliana took his weapons.

“What are you doing?” Alistair asked me.

We are going to question him when he wakes,” I said. “He was clearly sent here to kill us. I want to find out who he is working for.”

“To what end?” Sten grunted. “I say kill him now. Be done with it.”

“No!” Wynne said firmly. “Kylara has the right idea. We need to find out why.”

Leliana nodded in agreement.

“Bah!” Sten spat. “Fine, you waste time. I’ll wait over there.” He then leaned up against a large rock and glowered at us.

About an hour later, we heard the elf groan. His eyes fluttered open. When he saw us all standing over him, he muttered something that none of us could make out. Then he sighed.

“Well now, I rather thought I’d wake up dead… or not wake up at all, as the case may be,” he said in a richly accented voice. “But I see you haven’t killed me yet…”

“That could easily be rectified,” I said sternly. “Who are you, and why were you sent to kill us?”

He chuckled and said, “Of that, I have no doubt. You are most skilled.” He grinned. “Very well, I will answer your questions. My name is Zevran, Zev to my friends. I am a member of the Antivan Crows, brought here for the sole purpose of slaying the surviving Grey Wardens. Which I have failed at, sadly.”

“The Antivan Crows?” I shrugged. “Never heard of them.”

“Truly?” the elf said in a surprised tone. “I’m surprised you haven’t heard of us. The Crows are an order of assassins out of Antiva. We are very powerful, and renowned for getting the job done.”

“Well, you failed this time.”

“Indeed. This sets a rather poor precedent. Getting captured by a target seems a tad detrimental to one’s budding assassin career…”

“So you came all the way from Antiva just to kill us?” Alistair asked.

“No… not precisely. I was in the neighborhood when the offer came. We Crows get around, you see.”

“Who sent you to kill us?” I asked.

“A rather taciturn fellow in the capital. Loghain, I think his name was? Yes, that’s it,” the elf replied.

I heard Alistair actually mutter a curse, much to my surprise. He’d never shown the inclination to say those kinds of words before. I turned my attention back to “Zev”.

“Are you loyal to Loghain?”

“No. Just money,” he said. “I have no idea what his issues are with you, but I assume the usual… You threaten his power, yes?”

I merely nodded. “When were you to report back to him?”

“I wasn’t. If I succeeded, I would have returned home and the Crows would have informed this Loghain of the results. If I failed, I would be dead. Or at least I should be, at least as far as the Crows are concerned.”

“How much were you paid?”

“I wasn’t paid anything. The Crows, however, were paid handsomely. Or so I understand…” He sighed. “I am as poor as a Chantry mouse, come to think of it. Being an Antivan Crow isn’t for the ambitious, to be perfectly honest.”

“Then why be one?” I had to ask.

“Well, aside from a distinct lack of ambition, I suppose it’s because I wasn’t given much of a choice. The Crows bought me young. I was a bargain, too, or so I am led to believe. But don’t let my sad story influence you. The Crows aren’t too bad. They keep one well supplied. Wine, women, men. Whatever you happen to fancy. Though the whole severance package is garbage, let me tell you. If you were considering joining, I’d really think twice about it.”

“Mm-hm. Yes, don’t think that’s my cup of tea though.”

“You seem like a smart girl… and very pretty as well. I’m sure you have other options.”

_Did I actually just blush?_

I cleared my throat and then commented, “You are rather talkative for a prisoner…”

Zevran shrugged. “Well, I wasn’t paid to keep silent.” To himself, he then muttered, “Actually, I wasn’t paid at all.”

“You’re not the least bit loyal to your employers then?

He laughed lightly. “Loyalty is an… interesting concept. If you are done interrogating me, perhaps we could discuss that further?”

My eyebrows raised. “I’m listening. Make it quick.”

“Here’s the thing. I failed to kill you, so my life is forfeit. That’s how it works.. if you don’t kill me, the Crows most definitely will. Thing is, I like living… and since you obviously are the sort to give the Crows pause, here’s what I offer. Let me serve you instead.”

Arms crossed over my chest, I asked dubiously. “Can I expect the same amount of loyalty from you then?”

Zevran looked a bit hurt. “I happen to be a very loyal person… up until the point where someone expects me to die just because I failed.” He sighed. “That’s not really a fault, is it?”

Still skeptical, I asked, “What’s to stop you from just finishing the job later then?”

“To be completely honest, I was never given much of a choice regarding joining the Crows. They bought me from the slave market when I was a child. I think I’ve paid my worth back to them, plus tenfold. The only way out, however, is to sign up with somebody they can’t touch. Even if I did kill you now, they might still kill me on principle just for failing the first time. Honestly, I’d rather take my chances with you.”

“Won’t they come after you though?”

“Most likely,” he said. “But I happen to know their wily ways. I can protect myself, as well as you. Not that you seem to need it though.” He gave me a quick grin. “If not, well… it’s not as if I had many alternatives to start with, is it?”

“And what, exactly would you want in return?” I asked.

Alistair jumped in quickly. “Wait! Are you actually considering… taking him with us?”

I just gave him a quick look. He threw his hands up in resignation. I then turned back to Zevran. He gave me another smile.

“What was it you asked? What would I want from you? Well, Being allowed to live would be nice, and it would make me marginally more useful to you… and if somewhere down the line should you decide you no longer have need of me, then I will go my own way. Until then, I am yours.”

“A fine plan,” Morrigan said glibly. “But I would examine your food and drink far more closely from now on, were I you.”

“That’s excellent advice for anyone,” Zevran said.

I reversed the spell on Zevran’s legs but kept the binding spell on his arms.

“Welcome, Zevran. Having an Antivan Crow join us sounds like a fine plan. Your skills will no doubt come in handy,” Leliana said as I then helped Zevran to his feet.

“Oh? You are another companion-to-be, then?” he asked of Leliana. “I wasn’t sure such loveliness existed amongst adventurers, surely.” _Was he going to_ _flirt_ _like this for the rest of our journey?_ Turning back to me he then said, “I hereby pledge my oath of loyalty to you, until such a time as you choose to release me from it. I am your man, without reservation. This I swear.”

“Don’t think you’ll be getting your weapons back at this time, however,” I replied.

“Fair enough,” he said. “But should we get attacked, I assume you will let me have them then, yes?”

“Possibly,” I then smiled at him. “Welcome to the team then, Zevran.”

 

We finally made it back to our camp the around sunset the fifth day. As we passed by the spring-fed pools, I saw that my spell was still there. I smiled. Wynne gaped at the roses.

“You did this, Kylara?” she asked. I nodded.

“It’s lovely!” Leliana exclaimed.

Even Zevran was impressed. “Truly, you are indeed a mage to not be trifled with.”

Once we got back to the tents, Bodahn and Sandal came up to greet us.

“Welcome back, my friends! And I see you have two new folk with you,” he said nodding at Wynne and Zevran. “How d’you do? Bodahn Feddic. Me and my boy here are merchants from Orzammar. If there is anything you need, feel free to ask.”

I finally undid the binding spell on Zevran. He looked at me gratefully as he rubbed his wrists.

“Don’t think we won’t be keeping an eye on you, though,” I warned.

He nodded.

“Well, let’s get something to eat,” Alistair said. More mouths to feed now!”

 

We had a fantastic meal. Leliana had shot down some waterfowl. We had had fish for the last few days on the road, so this was a nice change of pace. Alistair found some nests that had some edible eggs in them, and Morrigan some plants and herbs. Bodahn even had some vegetables in his cart, so altogether, it was a filling meal.

Afterwards, I unpacked the supplies from the fourth tent and let Zevran know he was welcome to sleep in it if he liked.

“You are truly a generous soul, Kylara. You spare my life, feed me richly, and now provide me a comfortable place to sleep. You… don’t happen to be available, no?”

I looked over at Alistair, who was scowling slightly in Zevran’s direction. I gave Alistair a smile and a wink. He looked relieved and quickly smiled back at me. Zevran sighed.

“Too bad for me then, that you seem to be spoken for… But don’t think that may stop me from trying to woo you though.” He then whispered something in my ear that had me blushing furiously. Then he walked off.

Alistair came up to me then. I was still blushing.

“What did he say to you?”

“Um, nothing really important…” I mumbled.

“Right…”

“I, um, think I may ask Wynne, Leliana, and Morrigan if they might wish to join me at the springs for a little girl time. I will... see you later then?”

He nodded, and I went to speak with Leliana first.

 

After all of us had had a nice soak in the springs, Wynne and Leliana went back to the tent they were now sharing together. Morrigan went back to her own camp off to the side. I could see Zevran was already asleep in his tent, and Alistair was sitting in front of our main campfire. I walked up and then sat down next to him.

He inhaled. “Mmm… Roses. I am going to forever associate that lovely fragrance with you now, you know.” He placed his arm around me and held me for awhile. Contentedly, we stared into the flames of the fire. He then furtively glanced around and seeing that everyone else was now sleeping, he then gently turned my face to his and began kissing me softly.

I moaned and began to kiss him back. His kisses sent my heart fluttering in my chest and I felt warm, safe, and secure. I wasn’t sure if it was love between us yet, but there were definitely signs that it was moving in that direction. Finally, he pulled away.

“I love the feel and taste of your lips,” he barely whispered. “You are so very precious to me.”

I sighed contentedly. Quietly, I took a deep breath and then asked, “Would you… like to join me… in my tent?”

He pulled back from me slightly and I saw him blushing. _Had I_ _said_ _something wrong?_

“Y-your tent? Ah…” He gulped nervously, and then gently said, “I know most guys would probably leap at the chance t-to be with you. But I don’t know if I am ready for that… It’s a big step.” He sighed deeply. “Yeah, I guess this must make me sound like a complete idiot! To turn down an incredible woman like you? I’d have to be!”

“I-I am… sorry,” I mumbled.

He put his arm back around me and kissed my forehead. “I guess… I was just raised to not take that sort of thing lightly. I do love being with you, Kylara. You are an amazing woman. I… hope my hesitation hasn’t put you off.”

“No,” I said softly. “I respect your wishes. I didn’t mean to… pressure you.”

“Pressure me? Heavens no! I truly would love to… I just think it might be a little too soon.” He sighed again. “Well, now that I have handled that with my usual deft brilliance… I think I might need a cold bath.”

I blushed, realizing what he was referring to.

“So, I guess I will bid you goodnight, then?” He gave me a big smile.

“Um… yes. I think so,” I said, still blushing.

He gave me a tender kiss. “Goodnight, Kylara. Sweet dreams.”

I got up and went into my tent. _I think my dreams, and possibly yours, are going to be anything but sweet_ _tonight_ _…_

 

Early in the morning, I got up feeling a bit grouchy. One other thing I was really missing about my life in the Tower was having a big breakfast with a savory, spicy kafija to start my mornings with. Having been on the road almost a month now, you’d think I would have gotten used to the lack of it, but sadly no. I walked over to Morrigan’s camp and asked her for a few herbs to at least make a tea with.

After having my tea and a few bites of leftover food from the night before, I went over to talk with Bodahn.

“Well, hello there miss. Anything I can get for you this morning?”

We bartered for a bit, and then I asked, “Do you mind telling me your story? How you ended up here? I mean, you must miss Orzammar.”

“There are times, yes, that I miss me old home, but Sandal and I have been on the road for quite some time now. I used to be a merchant back when I lived in Orzammar too, you know, Merchant Caste. These kind of things are in the blood… Anyways, I ran a fairly successful business, rare artifacts you know, old things, grand things… The nobles loved them. Reminded ‘em of the lost ‘glory days’ I suppose. The dwarven kingdoms used to span the whole of Thedas from Orzammar to Kal Sharok to glittering Darmallon far to the west. They say the gold and silver veins ran so thick through the stone of Darmallon that the entire city sparkled. The darkspawn took it all, of course, one by one the old Thaigs fell until all that was left was Orzammar…

“But we were talkin’ about how I got here, weren’t we? Well, one day a noblewoman came to me store. She looked around for a bit and then started shrieking in dismay! Apparently, she believed that a pair of bracers that I had for sale once belonged to her brother! He’d been lost in a cave-in, you see, while on an expedition to clear out some of the darkspawn from the Deep Roads. ‘They were made especially for him! They’re unique!’ she had cried to the guards. ‘This man stole them from my poor brother’s corpse!’ She had me arrested on the spot. Nobles… they’re touchy on that sort of thing…”

“You didn’t steal them, did you?”

“Of course not! You see, I’d been payin’ these Casteless thugs to venture out into the Deep Roads. The lost Thaigs… they’re full of things that people had left behind. Sometimes you can find a treasure or two. Something worth a little gold.”

“Better to do something with it, than leave it there to rot.” I said.

“That’s exactly how I see it!” Bodahn exclaimed. “Well, the noblewoman wasn’t too happy about the ‘theft’ of her brother’s bracers. I didn’t know what they had planned for me, and I didn’t want to find out! I bribed the guard that was watchin’ me and took off for the surface first opportunity I got. Never looked back.”

“You didn’t mention your son in your tale.”

“Ah, yes. Sandal here, I actually found him in the Deep Roads years ago… abandoned I think, and he has never been quite right in the head. He might even be lyrium addled.”

 _That would explain why I thought_ _Sandal_ _talked a bit different…_

Bodahn continued, “I took him in, and brought him with me when I left Orzammar. He may not be of me blood, that’s true, but I think of him as such. Also turns out the boy’s a natural in working with enchantments. He can fold lyrium into almost any piece of armor or weapon, given some time, so if you find any runestones out there on the road somewhere, and some lyrium, bring ‘em on over to Sandal here and he might be able to enchant your weapon.”

“Enchantment!” Sandal shouted and clapped his hands together. I smiled.

“Well, he does seem to enjoy it at least,” Bodahn chuckled.

“Thank you for sharing that tale with me,” I said.

“You’re quite welcome!” he replied cheerily.

“Anyways, there was another reason I stopped by.”

“Yes? What might that be?”

“We are heading out for Redcliffe this morning, and we were wondering if you would accompany us on the road. We are planning on breaking down the entire camp, and it would help us immensely if we could pack some of our heavier items on your cart. I’m sure you’ll also be able to do business in town as well.”

“Sounds like a mighty fine idea, if you’ll be able to keep us safe on the road, we would love to accompany you!”

“Excellent, I’ll inform the others,” I said.

 

After breaking down the whole camp and getting everything packed up on Bodahn’s cart, I walked over to the springs. I was sad to leave such a gorgeous place, but we were travelers now. I hoped we might find our way back here someday though. I murmured a few words, and the enchantment I had cast on the area faded away. I sighed. Then I headed back to our group and we headed out.

Alistair figured it would probably take us about two days to reach Redcliffe, so we fell into our usual patterns of partnering up with certain people and chatted as we walked.

I was walking with Alistair again; he did really seem to enjoy our playful banter.

“So, tell me more about the arl. You say he raised you?”

“Did I say that? I meant that dogs raised me. Giant slobbering dogs from the Anderfels! A whole pack of them, in fact.” He laughed.

I rolled my eyes at him. “Really? That must have been so hard on them!”

“Well, they were flying dogs, you see. Surprisingly strict parents too, and devout Andrastians to boot!”

“That is what they say about the Anders.”

“That… and that they make a great deal of cheese. Funny, but the dogs never mentioned cheese.” He leaned in closer to me and whispered, “As a matter of fact, if you said ‘cheese’ around them, they’d start growling. Isn’t that odd?” He laughed again. “Or did I dream all of that? Funny the dreams you have when you sleep on the cold, hard ground, isn’t it?” In a more serious tone, he then said, “Let’s see. How do I explain this? I’m a bastard… and before you make any smart-ass comments, I mean the fatherless kind. My mother was a serving girl in Redcliffe Castle who died when I was very young. Arl Eamon wasn’t my father, but he took me in anyhow and kept a roof over my head. He was good to me, and he didn’t have to be. I respect the man, and I don’t blame him anymore for sending me off to the Chantry once I was old enough.”

“Why did he send you off to the Chantry?”

“Arl Eamon eventually married a young woman from Orlais, which cause all sorts of problems between him and the King because it was so soon after the war. But he loved her. Anyhow, the new arlessa resented the rumors that pegged me as her husband’s bastard. They weren’t true, but of course, they still existed. The arl didn’t care, but… she did.” He sighed. “So off to the monastery I was packed at the age of ten. Just as well, the arlessa made sure the castle wasn’t a home to me by that point. She despised me.”

“What an awful thing to do to a child,” I said sadly.

“Maybe, She felt threatened by my presence, I can see that now. I can’t say I blame her. She wondered if the rumors were true herself, I bet. I remember I used to have an amulet with Andraste’s holy symbol on it. It was the only thing I had that belonged to my mother. I was so furious at being sent away that I tore it off and threw t at the wall… and it shattered. Stupid, stupid thing to do. The arl came to the monastery a few times to see how I was, but I was stubborn. I hated it there, and at the time I blamed him for everything. Eventually, he just stopped coming.”

“But you were young…”

“And raised by dogs! Or I may as well have been, the way I acted. But maybe all young bastards act like that, I don’t know. All I do know is that the arl is a good man. He was also King Cailan’s uncle, so he will have a personal motivation to see Loghain pay for what he did.”

We were silent for a moment, then I asked, “Why have you remained a Templar if you hate the Chantry?”

His eyes widened in surprise as if I should know better… “Have you seen the uniform? It’s not only stylish but well made! I’m a sucker for good tailoring!”

“I thought that Templars wore plate armor.”

“That’s just in public. In private, we had these yellow and purple tunics. Much more comfortable… and you don’t break the beds when you jump on them during a pillow fight!”

I shook my head and sighed. “You had lots of these pillow fights then?”

“Oh yes! On confession day we could go all night! Being a Templar isn’t all about chasing men in skirts and hiding behind Priests, you know,” he said and laughed.

“You love teasing me about this stuff, don’t you?”

“I have to!” he insisted, still smiling. “It’s the only way I can look back on it all now and laugh.” Another sigh. How he kept bouncing from humor to serious and back again still baffled me. He looked at me and then said, “Honestly, I felt like Arl Eamon had cast me off, unwanted, and I was determined to be bitter back then. I did, however, find some solace in the Templar training itself, I guess. I was actually quite good at it. Using the abilities I now have came after years of education and discipline that was difficult to achieve, but rewarding. The sword training and religious doctrine all came later. I never really felt at home anywhere, though, until I joined the Grey Wardens. Duncan felt that my Templar abilities might come in useful if we encountered any darkspawn magic, so I kept it up.” He paused, then asked, “So what about you? Now that you’re not currently with the Circle, is there anywhere else you consider to be home?”

I smiled at him. “I guess my home is now with you. Wherever you go, I go. Together.”

“So if home is where the heart is… does that mean your heart is with me now?”

“I suppose it is,” I replied with a blush.

“You know, I really like the sound of that. Thank you, Kylara.” He then took my hand and held it as we walked together. “We won’t always be traveling like this. Once the war is over, and the Blight… a time will come when we’ll have to think about having a real home again. Though that seems like a long ways off… and I suppose since we’re the last of the Grey Wardens here in Ferelden…”

“Couldn’t we try to rebuild the order?” I asked.

“I… suppose we could. We could create new Grey Wardens. But we will never get back those we lost… I wonder if it would ever feel the same?”

 

After two days on the road, we had finally neared Redcliffe. It was a picturesque-looking place, the main town on the shore of Lake Calenhad. On a cliff high above, spanned by a huge bridge, was Castle Redcliffe. Home to Arl Eamon. We had stopped on a bluff above the town to rest for a few moments in the afternoon heat. Alistair was standing apart from the group staring at the town below. Then he looked up at the castle on the cliffs far above the town. I walked up to him.

“Everything all right, Alistair? You seem a bit pensive.”

He sighed deeply, then turned to face me. “Um, I need to tell you something that I, ah… should probably have told you earlier.”

Concerned, I asked, “What’s on your mind?”

“I told you before how Arl Eamon raised me, right? That my mother was a serving girl at the castle and how after she died he took me in?”

I nodded.

“Well, the reason he did that was… ah, because, my father… was King Maric. Which makes Cailan my… half-brother, I suppose.”

My jaw dropped open. I quickly closed it.

_Alistair is the heir to the throne??!!_

Trying to cover up my complete and utter shock, I half-jokingly said, “So… You’re not just a bastard… but a royal bastard?”

He chuckled nervously and smiled a bit. “Yes, I guess it does at that! I should use that line more often.” Then more seriously he said, “I had debated in telling you earlier… except it never really meant anything to me. I was… inconvenient. A possible threat to Cailan’s rule and so they kept me a secret. I’ve never really talked to anyone about it before. Duncan knew and maybe a few others. The ones that did know either resented me for it or they coddled me. I think that is why Duncan kept me out of most of the fighting, because of it. I… didn’t really want you to know, but here, with Arl Eamon, the truth would have eventually come out. I’m sorry I had to tell you like this…”

“I think I understand.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Ah, good. I’m glad. It’s not like I really got any special treatment for it anyhow. At any rate, that’s it. That’s all I really had to say.”

“You’re sure you aren’t hiding anything else?” I jested.

“What? Besides my unholy love of fine cheeses, and a minor obsession with my hair, no. That’s it… Just the prince thing.”

“So, you’re a… prince? Somehow I find that to be very… thrilling,” I said with a grin.

“I, ah… Not that I would want someone like you to like me for that reason, but there are worse fates, I suppose. Oh! Did I just find the one damn decent thing about my birthright? I think I did!” He cleared his throat, and then said, “I have no illusions about my status, however. It has always been made very clear to me that I’m a commoner, and now a Grey Warden and in no way in line for the throne. Frankly, that is fine by me. If there is any other potential heir to the throne, it should be Arl Eamon. He may not be of royal blood, but he was Cailan’s uncle, and he is very popular with the people.” He sighed. “So there you have it. Now we can move on, and I’ll just pretend you still think I am some nobody who was too lucky to die with the rest of the Grey Wardens…”

I took his hands into mine. “That’s not really what you think, is it?”

“Well, no. What I really think is how lucky I was to survive… with you,” he said softly. He then gave me a quick, but gentle kiss. Then we headed back to the rest of the group.

 


	12. Preparing Redcliffe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something strange is happening in Redcliffe. Can Kylara and her friends help the town and get the aid they need from Arl Eamon?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lovely commission art of Kylara's new robe drawn for me by the talented PookyHuntress (http://pookyhuntress.tumblr.com) <3

On the bridge leading into town, there was a young man standing and keeping watch. As we approached him, he seemed genuinely surprised.

“I thought I saw travelers coming down the road, though I scarcely believed it! Have you come to help us?”

“Greetings, My name is Kylara. We are here to speak with Arl Eamon.”

“The arl? Then you… you don’t know? Has nobody out there heard?” he asked in shock.

“What are you talking about? Heard what?” Something was definitely wrong.

“Arl Eamon fell sick recently, and no one has been able to get up to the castle to check if he is all right!” the young man said.

Alistair looked worried. “What do you mean the arl is sick? Sick how?”

“I don’t know,” he replied urgently. “As I said, we haven’t been able to get up to the castle in days now! Every night we are getting attacked by horrible monsters! They come out of the castle itself. People are getting dragged off and devoured! It’s horrible!”

“Apparently everyone seems to agree that the Blight is a perfect time to start killing each other. Marvelous, really!” Morrigan sighed.

“We’ve no army to defend us, no arl, and now no King to send us help. So many are dead and those left are terrified that they’re next!’

“What is this evil that is attacking you?” Alistair asked.

“I… don’t rightly know. I’m sorry. Nobody does.”

“What in The Maker’s name could be going on here?” Alistair muttered. Then to the man, he asked, “Is there anyone we could talk to? To find out more?”

“Yes, Bann Teagan is here. He’s in the Chantry with the other townsfolk.”

“Bann Teagan? The arl’s brother? He’s here?” Alistair exclaimed.

“Yes, I can take you to him,” the young man said. “Follow me.”

 

After getting Bodahn and Sandal’s cart secured, our large party entered the Redcliffe Chantry quietly. There were many villagers huddled together in groups, all looking scared. Finally, we approached a man who was issuing instructions to some of the other villagers. I figured this must be Bann Teagan.

He saw the young man who was leading us and said, “It’s Tomas, yes?” The young man nodded. “And who are these people with you? They’re obviously not simple travelers.”

“No, my lord,” Tomas answered respectively. “They just arrived, and I thought you would want to see them.”

“Well done, Tomas.” Bann Teagan turned to us. “Greetings, friends. My name is Teagan, Bann of Rainesfere, and brother to the arl.”

Alistair gave a slight smile. “I remember you, Bann Teagan. Though the last time we met I was a lot younger… and covered in mud.”

The bann looked confused for a moment. “Covered in mud?” Then realization dawned. “Alistair? It **is** you, isn’t it? You’re alive! This is wonderful news!”

“Still alive, yes, though I’m just as surprised about that as you are, believe me.”

Teagan scowled. “Indeed. Loghain would have us believe all Grey Wardens died along with my nephew, amongst other things.”

I spoke up. “No, not all of us died.”

“So you are a Grey Warden as well?” Bann Teagan said in a surprised tone. “A pleasure to meet you. I wish it were under better circumstances, though.”

“What do you know about Ostagar?” I asked.

“Only that Loghain pulled out his own men in order to save them. He is also claiming that my nephew Cailan risked the entire nation’s safety in the name of glory!” Teagan was furious, and I couldn’t blame him. “Loghain is calling the Grey Wardens traitors; murderers of the King. It is the act of a desperate man, nothing more!” He then sighed. “If you are here to see my brother, that might be a problem. Eamon is gravely ill. No one has heard from the castle in days. No guards patrol the walls, and no one has responded to my shouts. The attacks started a few nights ago. Evil things… surged from the castle. We drove them back, but still many perished during the assault.”

“What exactly is Eamon sick from?” Alistair asked with real concern.

“We are not exactly sure. At first, he just kept complaining of being constantly thirsty, but no amount of water or other beverage seemed to quench him. Then he started vomiting every time he ate. Now he has fallen into a deep sleep that no one can seem to wake him from! We have had all sorts of mages and herbalists come to look at him, but nothing has worked! And as I said, now we can’t even get to the castle to check because of the nightly attacks!”

“What kind of evil things are you talking about?” I asked.

“Some people are calling them the walking dead. Decomposing corpses returning to life with a hunger for human flesh. They hit again the next night! Each night they come, in greater numbers! With Cailan dead and Loghain starting a war over the throne, no one responds to my urgent calls for help. I have a feeling that tonight’s assault will be the worst one yet! Alistair, I hate to ask, but I desperately need the help of you and your friends.”

“It isn’t just up to me,” Alistair replied looking at the rest of us. “Though the Grey Wardens won’t stand much of a chance against Loghain without Arl Eamon.”

“Of course we’ll help,” I said as I nodded at Alistair. Leliana and Wynne also agreed.

Bann Teagan looked relieved. “Thank you! Thank you! This means more to me than you know. Tomas, please tell Murdock what has transpired, and then return to your post.”

Tomas bowed. “Yes, my lord.”

“Now then, there is much to do before night falls. I put two men in charge of the defense outside. Murdock, the village mayor, is just outside the Chantry. Ser Perth is up on the bluff by the windmill watching the castle. You may discuss the preparations for the upcoming battle with them.” I nodded.

As we headed out of the Chantry, I saw a young woman crying softly.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her. “Why are you crying?”

“Th-those things! They dragged my mother away last night! I can still hear her screaming! Now my younger brother Bevin has run off! I don’t know where he is! I am so scared that they will get him too!”

“Why would he run off? Do you know?”

“He said something about trying to save our mother! I don’t think he understands that she’s gone! He is just a little boy!” Tears flowed down her face.

“Grief can make us do a great many things that don’t make any sense,” Wynne said softly as she handed the woman a handkerchief for her eyes.

“I hope he didn’t try to go to the castle! Oh, that would be awful!” she cried out.

“Have you tried looking for him anywhere? Did he maybe try to go back home?”

“I-I don’t know. I did go to our house, and I called for him… but there was no answer! I have searched the rest of the village too! I am so worried for him!”

“We have some things to do around the village before dark. We can keep an eye out for him. If we find him, we will send him back to the Chantry.” I said.

“You will? Oh, Maker, thank you!”

 

Once outside, I saw a burly-looking man issuing orders to others, from Teagan’s description, this had to be Murdock. I walked up and introduced myself.

“Huh, so you’re the Grey Warden, are you? I didn’t think they made women Grey Wardens.”

“Why would you think that?” Alistair asked. “There have been many fine women in our order in the past.”

Murdock shrugged. “Just what I heard, that’s all. We aren’t going to turn anyone aside that wants to help.”

"We do want to help. In any way we can,” Alistair said. “You can trust us.”

Murdock reached out and shook Alistair’s hand. “Name’s Murdock. Mayor of what’s left of this village… provided we all survive this night.”

“I am Kylara, and this is Alistair. We are the Grey Wardens. Behind us, is Leliana, Wynne, Zevran, Sten, Morrigan,” I pointed to each of them in turn, “and the four-legged furry one is Winston. He’s a Mabari wardog. The two dwarves are Bodahn and Sandal, though they won’t be fighting with us.”

“Fair enough,” Murdock replied. “So what do you need to know?”

“What can we do to help you?” I asked.

Murdock rubbed his chin. “Well, We need what little armor and weapons we have repaired quickly, or half of us will be fighting without.” He sighed. “Owen’s the blacksmith, but he’s locked himself in his smithy, and he’s refusing to talk to anyone!”

“Why did he do that?”

“His daughter, Valena, is one of the arlessa’s maids. So he hasn’t heard from her since this whole mess started. He wanted me to send men up to the castle, but I told him it was impossible to do that. Now he says he just wants to die.”

“Maybe I could try to talk with him.”

“I’d appreciate it,” Murdock grunted.

“Anything else?” I asked.

“We could use some extra help. With a veteran like Dwyn out here, it might make a difference… but he just flat out refuses. He too has locked himself up in his house with some of his bodyguards.”

“Tell me about Dwyn.”

Murdock nodded. “He’s a dwarf, a former warrior, and trader from Orzammar. He says he doesn’t need any of us, but we could really use someone with his fighting experience. His house is by the lake.” Murdock pointed to a small house in the distance.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you. Appreciate it, we really do.”

 

I knocked on the door that Murdock had indicated was Dwyn’s house. There was no answer.

“Hello? Anyone there?” I called out. Still no response.

“Maybe he’s not home,” Alistair commented.

“No, Murdock said he’s locked himself inside. I guess we take more drastic measures. Leliana, could you pick the lock?”

“Sure, I can try,” she said. She fiddled with it and then, “Oh, damn! I broke my pick.” She sighed. “Now what?”

Knowing we had to get as many villagers who could fight recruited (whether willingly or not), I kicked the door in.

When the dust settled, a very irate dwarf and two human men were glaring at me.

“Wonderful! Intruders. I hope you have a damn good reason for breaking into my home.”

Sten walked in behind me, and I heard him intake a sharp breath.

“What is it?” I asked him.

He pointed to the mantle above the dwarf’s fireplace. “That… is… my… sword!”

The dwarf looked up at the sword above his fireplace, and then up even further into Sten’s very angry glower.

“I told you we shouldn’t have bought that ‘giant’s sword’ from that Faryn idiot!” one of the men whispered to Dwyn.

“Huh. Well, Faryn didn’t tell me he’d taken it off of a live giant,” Dwyn muttered.

Sten looked even angrier if that was possible.

“You know what?” Dwyn said. “Take it… Just take the damned thing!”

Sten reached forward and took his sword. He then turned and walked out of the house without any word. I shrugged.

Dwyn then turned to me. “So your giant friend has his bloody sword, so why are you still here?”

“Murdock wants all available men to help fight with the militia this evening,” I said.

Dwyn grunted. “So what? Are you recruiting for him now? I’ll tell you what I told Murdock. I am not risking my neck for this town.”

I hated cowards. I glanced at Alistair, who apparently felt the same way. I could see his eyes beginning to glow in anger. I took a step closer to Dwyn and said firmly, “Either die out there or die here, right now!”

“Hmph. So that’s what it’s come down to? Fine then, I’ll go.”

“Thank you,” I said.

Dwyn glared at me. “Don’t thank me. I’m not doing this **for** you. I’m doing it **because** of you!” He grabbed his sword and beckoned to his two lackeys. “Go and tell Murdock he’s won. But I better see you out there fighting as well!”

Once we left the house, I approached Sten. He was as holding his sword in both of his hands.

“Strange,” he said as I approached. “I had almost forgotten it. Completion.” There was a hint of a smile on his face. “Are you sure you are a Grey Warden? I think you must be an ashkaari, to find a single lost blade in a country at war.”

“Well, we did get incredibly lucky. How were we to know it was here?”

“That does not matter. You never gave up the hope of finding it, whereas I had,” he said.

“What will you do now?”

“My sword is in my hand. I will put it to good use tonight, and when we battle the darkspawn.” His lips turned up into a genuine smile now. I was surprised since I had never seen him smile before. He continued. “I will also be able to deliver a much more satisfying answer to the arishok’s question when the Blight is ended, don’t you agree?”

I nodded. “You are welcome, Sten. I was glad to help.”

“Come. We have much to do to get the village ready,” he said, all business again.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

 

We then went over to the smithy. The forge wasn’t lit, and I could hear someone weeping inside the building. I knocked.

“Go away!” a muffled voice came from within. “Curse you! Leave me in peace!”

“Are you Owen, the blacksmith? I need to speak with you.”

“Huh? Who’s that then? What do you want? I’ve been through enough!” he sobbed.

“I would prefer to not speak through the door,” I said. “May we come in?”

“Hmm? Oh all right… Let me undo the locks. All I ask is that you don’t make any trouble.”

In a few moments, we walked into the dark smithy. It reeked inside.

“Maker’s Breath!” Leliana exclaimed. “What is that awful smell!”

“Somebody’s been drinking…” Alistair said in a sing-song voice. I stifled a giggle.

“All right. I let you in. Mind telling me what this is all about? Who are you people?” Owen mumbled, and then belched. That did not help the already foul smell in the air.

“My name is Kylara. I am a Grey Warden, and these are my companions. We are helping Bann Teagan and the village fight this evening.”

“A Grey Warden is it? Hah! It takes all kinds. Anyhow, my name’s Owen, though you probably already knew that. Care to join me as I get besotted? Or is there something in particular you wanted?”

“Murdock and the militia need your help to fix armor and weapons,” I said.

“Why should I help Murdock when he won't help me, huh? My girl, Valena, is one of the arlessa's maids and she's trapped up there in the castle! But the mayor won't send anyone for her. She's been my life since my wife passed on two years ago. Now she's dead or soon to be. I don’t care what happens to me or the village or anyone!” Owen wailed.

“So you intend to wallow in self-pity and drink yourself to death? Fat lot of good that’ll do anyone,” I said.

“Why not? It's not like we're going to live past the night anyhow. Or are you going to save us?”

“Yes. I am,” I said with determination.

Owen looked at me with interest. “Is that so? Maybe its the drink talking… but you almost sound like you believe that! It’d do me a world of good knowing that someone like you would go looking for my girl… provided any of us live through the night.” He sighed. “Tell you what, if you want me to do repairs for Murdock and his men, then you promise me you'll go into the castle and find my daughter!”

“I'll do my best,” I told him.

“No! Not good enough! Murdock said the same damned thing and I didn't believe him either!”

“You are asking a great deal, you wretched little man,” Morrigan frowned. Owen ignored her.

“I want a promise. Promise me that you'll look for her, that you'll bring her back to me if you can!”

“I promise you. I'll find her,” I said. Hopefully, she and the others in the castle were still alive.

“We will do our best, please believe us, friend,” Wynne said softly.

“I'll accept that. It's something to hope for at least.” Owen nodded.

“Oh, how lovely!” Morrigan clasped her hands and twirled in a circle. “Shall we next begin rescuing kittens from trees? Hold hands and sing pretty little songs?”

I rolled my eyes at her. Morrigan would be Morrigan…

“Well then,” he grunted and belched again. “I suppose there is no point in me sitting around. Time to relight the forge and get the smithy going now, eh? Murdock’ll be pleased. If you need any armor or supplies, just let me know.”

“Thank you, Owen.”

We bartered for a bit. I ended up buying new armor for both Alistair and Sten, to give them better protection. I also found a new longbow for Leliana.

Finally, Owen said, “I got a lot to do now, so if you’ll excuse me.”

 

Before heading up the hill to the upper part of the village, I decided to check around some more in the lower village area. The woman who had lost her brother had indicated her house was near the general store. I went to the store first. There was no proprietor there, but I looked at the few goods that were in there. I found a new set of robes that I could use, but I had to admit they were unlike any mage robes I had ever seen. Still, they would fit. I also found some new boots. I placed some gold on the counter for them, hoping it would be enough. In the back, there were many barrels of oil, but not much else.

We then left the store and headed over to the woman’s house. It was unlocked, so we walked in. As we approached the bedroom on the ground floor, I heard a muted thump come from the closet, then all was silent again.

“Hello?” I asked. “Is someone in there?”

A muffled voice mumbled, “Go away! This isn’t your home!”

In a stern, strict voice, Wynne said, “Young man, you come out of there this instant.”

“I… Yes, ma’am,” came the reply.

A little boy stepped out of the closet. _This must be Bevin,_ I thought.

“All right. I came out. You won’t… hurt me? Will you?” he said, glancing at all of us. “I’ll go back to the Chantry, if that is what you really want.”

“First tell me why you were hiding in there.”

He got a stubborn look on his face. “I can’t tell you! It’s a secret!”

I tried to persuade him. “Are you sure? Maybe I could help you?”

He sighed. “It’s just that… father said I could have his sword when I grew up. It was my grandfather’s. He was a great warrior. I thought if I was brave like my grandfather, I could use his sword and save mum from those bad things that took her!”

“Where is the sword now?” I asked.

“It’s in the chest… in my mother’s room. Father gave me the key, but I am not supposed to give it to anyone!” His face turned defiant again.

“But we could use the sword to help defend the village.”

“I can’t give it to you! It is a family treasure. My sister Kaitlyn would be so mad if I did!” He was near tears.

“Is there something I could do to help you and your sister in exchange for the sword?”

“Maybe. Could you give my sister some money? She said if we had money, we would be all right. Even if mum is… dead.”

“I promise I will talk to you sister about it, all right?” I said softly.

“All right. Here is the key.” He handed me a small brass key. “I hope you use the sword to kill lots of those bad things! I should go back to the Chantry now, I guess. Good luck.” He then left the house.

I turned to Alistair. “I’ll head up to the mother’s room and get the sword. I am also going to change into these new robes while I am up there.” He nodded.

Once upstairs, I took off the old robe I had been wearing since Ostagar. Though I had kept it as clean as I could, I was glad to be finally rid of it. I slipped on the new robe. Surprisingly, it was very… fitting. It was made from a smooth, burnished leather in a rich plum color. Though cut short in the front, showing off a bit of my legs, it was long in the back. It supported and lifted me in front, making my breasts look a little larger than they were. I blushed at that. There was also a pretty fur trim on the shoulders. I finished buckling the last straps and then slipped on my new boots. They came up to my thighs. There was a reflecting glass in the room, so I took a moment to look at myself. I had to admit, I thought I looked rather pretty.

I then went to the chest and used the key to open it. Among some clothes and a few books, there was a sword in its sheath. Just as I picked it up, there was a knock on the bedroom door.

“You okay in there, Kylara?” I heard Alistair ask.

“Yes. I was just getting ready to come down.”

I opened the door. As soon as Alistair saw me, his eyes widened with appreciation.

“Wow! You look… fantastic.”

I blushed again. “Thanks. I have never seen mage robes quite like these before, but I have to admit, I quite like them.”

“I do too,” he whispered and gave me a quick, soft kiss.

I sighed in contentment. Alistair’s kisses always made me feel so warm inside.

“I… ah… think we should head back, yes? We still have a lot to do.”

He gave me a gorgeous smile. “Of course. You are so practical.” Then his face did turn serious. “I really do hope that everybody, especially the arl, are going to be all right.”

“We will do what we must. Let’s finish getting everyone prepared in the meantime.” He started to head down the stairs. “Oh, by the way…” He stopped and turned back to me. “Do you think you might be able to use this?” I handed him the sword.

He unsheathed it and looked at it. “It is a superior blade. I will make sure to honor its heritage.” He slid it back into its sheath. “Thank you.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

 

After checking that the rest of the lower village was as secure as it could be, we headed up the hill. There was a tavern on our left which I thought we should check out.

Inside the dimly lit building, there were a few patrons drinking. A lone elf was sitting in the corner, he shifted nervously when he caught me staring at him. Odd.

A pretty redhead walked up to us. “Some more doomed souls looking to drown their sorrows, eh? If you came here for a drink, you’ll have to talk to Lloyd… though he’s got a vice grip on those spigots. I’m just here to keep the boys from mutiny.” She chuckled.

I reached out and shook her hand. “I’m Kylara. My friends and I are here to help you all fight tonight.”

She looked surprised. “Really? That’s wonderful! My name is Bella.”

“So, you work here?”

She sighed. “With all the soldiers missing, the only folk that come here now are the townsfolk, and they barely have enough money to even justify me being here. Lloyd’s a… greasy pig. Gropes me every chance he gets and pays me next to nothing. But, I do need the job… and it’s not like I have a lot of other options.”

“A pretty girl like you should be able to do better elsewhere,” Zevran said as he came up and kissed her hand.

She blushed a brighter red than her hair.

“Zev? Now is really not the time to flirt," I warned.

“Ah, more's the pity,” he sighed and stepped back.

“So what will do before nightfall?” I asked her.

“Well, I’ll head to the Chantry. Lloyd, that skunk, he’ll lock himself in the basement here,” she said.

“Really?” I looked over at Lloyd. “We’ll just have to see about that.” Then I gestured over to the elf, subtle-like. “What’s his story?”

Bella shrugged. “Says his name is Berwick and that he’s here waiting on his brother. But all he been doing is sitting there in that corner every day. Doesn’t even buy anything.” She leaned in and whispered, “Frankly, I think he’s a bit creepy.”

“Maybe I’ll have a little chat with him then.” I then thanked Bella and walked up to the quiet elf.

“Not looking for company…” the elf muttered as I approached.

“I hear you are Berwick,” I said.

The elf looked surprised. “What? How did you know that?” He was clearly very nervous now.

“I asked around,” I replied.

“Well, yes, that is my name. Why?”

“You seem awfully nervous. Why is that?”

“I… no reason. I just didn’t know how you knew my name. That’s all.”

Still suspicious, I said, “You told Bella you were waiting for your brother?”

“My what? Oh, uh, yes. He was supposed to… meet me here. But then I got stuck here when the monsters started attacking.”

“So why haven’t you tried to leave?”

He was definitely getting more twitchy. “Er, no. Those that have tried are dead, and um, I… uh, still have to wait for my brother.” He took a deep breath, apparently trying to calm himself down, and then said, “Look. You are a very pretty woman, but I don’t know you and I don’t **want** to know you. I’m not, I mean… I was just told to… nevermind. Just leave me alone!”

“What do you mean?” My eyes narrowed. “Just what were you told to do?”

“Nothing!” he almost shouted. “Nobody told me to do anything! Look, just because you are a Grey Warden doesn’t mean you can go around threatening people!”

“Who told you she was a Grey Warden?” Leliana demanded.

“I, uh, just… overheard it?

Zevran drew his dagger and pointed it at the elf’s throat. “I think you’d best talk harellan, yes?”

The elf finally capitulated. “Oh, all right! I’ll tell you! Just… don’t hurt me. This is more than I bargained for, anyhow! Look… They just paid me to watch the castle and send word if anything should change. But they never said anything about monsters! I haven’t been able to even report anything since this all started. I am stuck… same as you! I swear!”

“Who are ‘they’? Who hired you to do this?” I demanded.

“A tall fellow. I forget his name. But I believe he said he works for Howe. Arl Rendon Howe.”

“I’ve heard of this Arl Howe. He’s bad news,” Alistair whispered to me.

The elf continued. “He’s an important man. Teryn Loghain’s right-hand man. So I didn’t do anything wrong!”

_If Howe was working for Loghain? Definitely bad news…_

“What were supposed to watch the castle for?”

“Just to report any changes… honest! All I could send word on was the arl getting sick. After that, that’s when the monsters started attacking.” he said.

“So you know how this happened? Tell me now!”

“I don’t know anything about these creatures! When the arl got sick, I was afraid that people would think that I was involved. But I swear I don’t know anything about it! **They** sent me to watch. Maybe **they** knew that the arl would get sick? I don’t know!”

How do we know you are telling us the truth?” I asked.

“Here!” He handed me a piece of paper. “This is a letter from them! It has instructions and everything! Keep it! Do whatever you want with it! I just thought I was serving the King! Maybe making a little coin on the side! You have to believe me!”

“Loghain is **not** the King,” I muttered. Then I said, “I think you should help defend Redcliffe tonight.”

“Fitting,” Sten said and nodded.

“Oh, all right. I’ll do it.” Zevran took his dagger from the elf’s throat and slid it back into its sheath. “Thank you for your mercy! I won’t forget it!” The elf got up and headed out of the tavern.

Now to deal with Lloyd…

I walked up to the rather fat barkeep. His roving eyes did not do him any favors in my book. He gave me a revolting smile.

“ ‘Allo there, friend. Can’t say we’ve ever met before. Strangers in the village, I take it? We haven’t had many travelers lately. All this monster nonsense is bad for business. Bet you regret coming I guess?” His eyes stared at my chest.

“What do you mean? We came to help fight.”

“What would a pretty lil’ thing like you want to fight for?” Completely ignoring the rest of my group, he lowered his voice and said, “I’ll… uh, be hiding in my cellar tonight. You could… join me? Keep me company? What do you say?” He leered at me.

Apparently, my breasts just could not stop staring at his eyes. I had had enough. “All right, that is **quite** enough, you filthy pig,” I pointed my staff at him. “How about doing a decent thing for once in your pathetic life! I want you to join the militia tonight and help defend the village!”

“I approve,” Sten said. “All who are able should fight.”

“B-but… but I… Oh, all right,” he mumbled. “But all this better be here when I get back! I don’t want the place drunk out from under me!” He turned and made his way outside, muttering curse words under his breath.

After he was gone, Bella came up to me.

“That was brilliant! Well, I guess that puts me in charge now! Won’t Lloyd have a conniption fit!” She giggled and then went behind the bar to give some of the other militiamen some ale. They cheered at her.

 

We left the tavern and made our way up to the windmill where Ser Perth was keeping watch.

“Greetings Gray Wardens,” he said politely. “I am as relieved as Bann Teagan that you are here. I must admit that I don’t know quite how to address you. Is 'my Lady', sufficient?”

“You can call me by my name. I am Kylara.”

“As you wish, and thank you kindly. I am Ser Perth. Until recently, I was in direct service of Arl Eamon of Redcliffe. For now, my charge is defending Redcliffe village from these evil assaults. Would that I have chosen not to seek out the Urn of Sacred Ashes, perhaps I would have been here to fend off whatever evil befell the castle.”

“Tell me more about this Urn of Sacred Ashes. Why were you searching for it?”

Ser Perth nodded. “When the arl fell sick, we were at a loss. Nothing worked to cure him. He just kept getting worse. Finally, the arlessa herself came up with a plan. The Urn of Sacred Ashes is a legendary artifact said to hold great healing powers. If found, it might save him.”

“They say that the followers of Andraste smuggled her ashes out of Tevinter,” Alistair explained. “Supposedly they hid them somewhere here in Ferelden. But the Urn has never been heard of since.”

“We Knights volunteered to seek it out,” Ser Perth said. “Few of us have returned, but many of them are still out there searching, unaware of what is happening here.”

“Why did the arlessa believe anyone could find the Urn?”

“The arl once employed a scholar, Brother Genetivi. He had proof that the Urn was here in Ferelden, or so I was told,” Ser Perth replied. “The arlessa believed her husband was cursed, and that we needed the power of Andraste herself, or he would surely perish.

“I hadn’t had any luck in finding any clues about the Urn. I was going to head to Denerim, where Brother Genetivi now lives, but as I passed by Redcliffe, I heard about the attacks. So I stayed to help.”

“Have you considered using the oil in the village store?”

“No one told me of this. Oil, you say? How much exactly?” Ser Perth asked.

“Enough to set many monsters aflame,” I replied.

“Assuming that would hurt them. Yes, I see what you have in mind. That might be effective… if used carefully.” He nodded. “Yes, an excellent idea! I’ll send some men to collect the oil. We will use it to slow these creatures down.”

 

When we finally got back down to Murdock, he was much happier looking. “Well, I don’t know what you said to him, but thanks! Owen is finally finishing the repairs we need, and just in time.” He shook his head. “Damn fool is falling over drunk and still manages to make smithing look easy!” He chuckled. “Also, thanks for getting Dwyn, Lloyd, and that elf fella to come and help us too. Will all of them, and you lot, we just may stand a fighting chance tonight!”

Just in time too… the sun was starting to go down.

 


	13. The Battle for Redcliffe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylara, Alistair, and their friends fight to save Redcliffe from a strange undead menace... and later, Kylara meets an old frienemy.

I quickly went to the Chantry building. Along with the villagers, Bodahn and Sandal were waiting.

“I’m sorry we dragged you into this mess after we said we’d keep you safe,” I apologized.

“Don’t you worry about us none. Our mule is in the barn with their horses, our cart is locked down tight now. We’ll be just fine in here with these folk. I know you won’t let us down.” He smiled at me. “Besides, I have still been able to do a little business with these here villagers, so it hasn’t been all bad.”

“Very well. Stay safe you two. We will see you in the morning.”

Bodahn gave me a wink, and said, “Give ‘em heck tonight!”

I bid Bann Teagan farewell also and then left the Chantry. I then heard them lock the doors behind me. There were militiamen guarding outside, along with Dwyn (who scowled at me), Berwick (who looked terrified), and Lloyd (who looked miserable). I nodded at Murdock and then ran up the hill to the first blockade from the castle. Our group, along with Ser Perth and a few other knights, was the first line of defense. Another knight stood by the blockade with a torch in hand. They had soaked the wood in the oil from the store and were waiting to set it alight when the monsters started attacking. I readied my staff… and waited.

I looked towards the castle. An odd green haze seemed to be coming across the bridge and down the mountain path.

“They’re coming! The monsters are coming!” one of the lookouts shouted.

“Light the barricade!” Ser Perth ordered.

Wynne was behind all of us fighters, as she was our healer. Morrigan had transformed herself into a bear, Zevran readied his daggers, and then vanished. I thought he had actually disappeared, but then I saw a ghost of a grin from the shadows. _Ah, he_ _i_ _s using stealth_. Leliana readied her longbow and Sten and Alistair had their swords drawn. Winston growled deeply, teeth bared.

The mist solidified just before the barrier and then dissipated, revealing dozens of rotting corpses. They ran towards us and began attacking. Fortunately, our flaming barrier did cause them to pause. Several caught on fire and fell, screeching as they died a second death. Leliana’s arrows took down several more, but they kept coming. A few finally got through our barrier. Winston ran up to them and went for their throats. I cast large area spells to take down as many as I could. Zevran got behind them and dispatched them with backstabs and quick slices of his daggers. Morrigan used her bear strength to crush even more. Still, they came. The knights, Sten and Alistair used their swords to cut more down. Wynne healed when necessary.

Finally, their numbers seemed to thin out. I started to breathe a sigh of relief when a terrified militiaman ran up the hill towards us.

“They’re attacking from the lake!” He shouted. “We need help down there!”

I quickly yelled out to my group. “Alistair, Leliana, Zevran, and Wynne! Come with me! Sten, Morrigan, and Winston! Stay here and help the knights if any more get through from the castle!” Everyone nodded, and I ran down the hill to help.

We got down to the barrier by the Chantry. Indeed, there were more rotting undead coming from the lake itself. Flames did not slow them down this time, and I realized why… they were soaking wet. I quickly changed my tactics and cast freeze spells. It halted them in their tracks. Leliana, Alistair, and Zevran were able to shatter their frozen forms. Wynne ran to the militiamen that needed healing assistance and helped them. She healed a particularly nasty gash on Murdock’s face. He thanked her and renewed his own attacks.

Finally, the sky began to lighten as dawn approached. The attacks dwindled, and then finally stopped. After the last undead was killed, a cheer came from all the surviving militiamen. Murdock came up and slapped my back heartily.

I noticed that we had lost several people. Lloyd, the bartender, was one… though I doubted he would be missed as much as the others.

The doors to the Chantry opened up and the villagers all flooded out, cheering. Bann Teagan came up and hugged both Alistair and me.

“Thank you! What you have done for us; words can not express my gratitude!” He then went to each of the rest of my group to give them all thanks.

I saw Kaitlyn and Bevin and I beckoned for Alistair to join me. Both of them were crying tears of joy. Alistair had cleaned the blade of the sword we had borrowed and began to hand it back to her.

She shook her head. “Keep it. You have saved us and I want to reward you. For saving my brother, for saving us all!”

I nodded, but then ran over to Bodahn’s cart and fetched my pack. I took out several gold sovereigns and then ran back over to her. I handed Kaitlyn the gold.

“If we keep your grandfather’s sword, then please take this gold to help. With your mother gone, I want to know that the two of you will be all right after we leave.”

She took the gold, tears in her eyes and slipped it into a pocket in her dress. She then gave me a huge hug and whispered to me, “Thank you, so very much. I will never forget you.”

 

The Revered Mother came out of the Chantry. She recited to us prayers of thanks and then prayers for those whose lives had been lost. They would have a mass funeral later in the afternoon.

Bann Teagan walked up to Alistair and me. “Now that it seems we are in the clear, I’d like to try and get into the castle. Come with me.” I beckoned to all of my friends, and we followed Teagan up the hill, towards the windmill.

 

At the top of the hill, I briefly spoke to Ser Perth. “It is sad to think of how much death there has been here,” he sighed. “I am glad we have saved the village, however. You have done well, my friends. I will remain here to guard the village and receive any fellow knights as they return. At least until the castle is retaken.”

I walked over to Teagan who was looking at the castle. “Odd how quiet it looks from here. You would think there was no on the inside it at all.” He turned to us. “But I shouldn’t delay things further. I had a plan to enter the castle after the village was secure. There is a secret passage here in the mill, accessible only to my family.”

“Why didn’t you enter the castle in the first place?” I asked.

“I had no idea what lurked in the castle and I couldn’t abandon the people of the village! What if…” He looked behind me and pointed. “Maker’s Breath!” he said in a shocked tone.

A woman in very fancy attire was running down the hill with a lone guard. Her face was flushed with exertion. She ran up to Teagan.

“Teagan! Thank the Maker you live!” she gasped. For a moment she stood there, obviously trying to catch her breath. She didn’t look like the sort of woman who ran a lot.

“Isolde! You’re alive!” Teagan exclaimed. “How did you… What has happened?”

“I do not have much time to explain,” she said in a thick accent, much like Leliana’s. “I slipped away from the castle as soon as I saw that the battle was over… and I must return quickly! I, uh, need you to return with me Teagan… alone.”

“We will need more of an explanation than that,” I said, probably more sharply than I should have.

The woman frowned at me. “What?! Who is this woman, Teagan?”

Alistair sighed. “You remember me, Lady Isolde, don’t you?”

“Alistair!” she exclaimed. “Of all the… Why are **you** here?”

“They are Grey Wardens, Isolde,” Teagan explained. “I owe them my life.”

“Pardon me,” Isolde apologized to me. “I would exchange pleasantries, but, considering the circumstances…”

“Please, Lady Isolde,” Alistair said. “We had no idea anyone was even alive within the castle. We **must** have some answers.”

She scowled at Alistair for a moment, then turned to Teagan and me. “I know you need more of an explanation… but I don’t know what is safe to tell.” She sighed. “Teagan, there is a terrible evil within the castle. The dead waken and hunt the living! The mage responsible has been caught, but still, it continues!”

“Mage?” I asked. “What mage?”

Isolde ignored me and continued talking to Teagan. “I think Connor is going mad! We have survived, but he refuses to flee the castle with me. He has seen so much death! You must help him Teagan! You are his uncle! I am sure you can reason with him! I do not know what else to do!” she wailed.

“What about Arl Eamon? Is he still alive?”

Isolde nodded at me. “He is… being kept alive so far, thank The Maker.”

“Kept alive?” Teagan said, confused. “What do you mean? Kept alive by what?”

“Something the mage unleashed. So far, it allows Eamon, Connor, and myself to live… but the others were not so fortunate. It killed so many, and turned their bodies into walking nightmares! Once it was done with the castle, it struck the village!” She sobbed against Teagan’s chest. “It wants us to live, but I don’t know why! It allowed me to come for you, Teagan because I begged! I said Connor needed help!”

“Why do I get the feeling you are not telling us everything?” Again, I probably should have been more polite as I got a shocked gasp from Lady Isolde.

“I beg your pardon! That is a rather impertinent accusation!”

“I am sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it,” I apologized.

She sighed. “No, it is I who should apologize. You are right to be suspicious, but I do not know what else to do! An evil I cannot fathom holds my son and my husband hostage. I came for help! What more do you want from me?!” Again, she faced Teagan. “Please, Teagan, I do not have much time! What if it thinks I am betraying it?! It could kill Connor! Please, come back with me! Must I beg?!”

“Do you think this ‘evil’ could be some kind of demon?” I asked, remembering the Mage Tower.

“I… do not know,” Isolde said in a horrified voice. “Oh, Maker’s Mercy! Could it actually be a demon?! I… can’t let it hurt my Connor! You must come back with me Teagan! Please!”

“Why must Teagan go alone?” I questioned.

“For Connor’s sake! I promised I would return quickly, and only with Teagan!”

“Enough questions. We need to decide what to do.”

“The King is dead, and we need my brother now more than ever. I will return to the castle with you, Isolde.” Teagan said.

“Oh, thank The Maker! Bless you, Teagan!” Isolde cried.

“It seems you have little choice,” I said quietly.

To me, Teagan murmured, “I have no illusions of dealing with this evil alone. You, on the other hand, have proven to be quite formidable.” He turned to the arlessa and asked, “Isolde, could you excuse us for a moment? We must confer in private before I return to the castle with you.”

She nodded. “Please do not take too long. I will wait by the bridge.”

Teagan then whispered to our group, “Here is what I propose. I go in with Isolde, and you go into the castle using the secret passage. My signet ring unlocks the door.” He handed me the ring. “Perhaps I will be able to distract whatever evil is inside the castle and increase your chances of getting in unnoticed. What do you say?”

I sighed. Seems we had no other options. “What do you need us to do?” I asked.

Teagan explained. “The passage you need to take is long and probably dangerous. We had it built as an escape route should the castle fall under siege. It hasn’t been used in a very, very long time, so I don’t know what might be down there. It will lead you under the lake and then into the lowest levels of the castle. After you go through the dungeon area, you should then be able to get a flight of stairs that will lead you out to a trapdoor in the courtyard. Ser Perth and his men can wait outside the portcullis, and you can let them in if you think you need extra help.

“Once you get inside the castle, hopefully, we can then fight whatever this evil is that is holding Isolde, Connor, and my brother. I would suggest, however, that only a few of you go, since the passage is so small. The rest of your group that doesn’t go can head across the bridge to the castle portcullis with Ser Perth.” I nodded.

Choosing who to go was tough. Zevran was a good choice, being smaller than most of us, and I didn’t think Leliana’s archery would help in a small passageway. Winston, I could also take, due to his keen sense of smell. Lastly, I decided to take Alistair, because this had been his home. He would know the layout of the castle. Once I told them, I nodded to Teagan. He then headed up the hill to where Isolde was waiting.

“All right everyone,” I said to them. “Let’s go!”

 

We entered the mill and I found the trapdoor that Teagan had referred to. A ladder led down deep into the ground. I reached the bottom of the shaft and was followed by Zevran and then Alistair. Winston whined at the top still.

“How is he going to get down here?” Alistair asked.

I closed my eyes and murmured, “Thig sìos thugam gu sàbhailte.” <Come to me safely.>

Winston was lifted into the air by my spell. At first, he didn’t like it, but I calmed him with soothing sounds. He then relaxed his body, and I lowered him carefully to the ground.

Alistair and Zevran both looked stunned. With a smile, I jokingly asked, “Want me to try it on one of you next?” Both shook their heads. I laughed. Levity over, I then said. “Let’s get going.”

I looked down the very dark passageway. Barely any light filtered down from the mill. I held out my hand in front of me and said, “Thoir air falbh an dorchadas seo. Solas mo shlighe.” <Take away this darkness. Light my way> A ball of light appeared and hovered above my hand, parting the darkness before us. “Ready your weapons, boys,” I murmured. “We don’t know what lies ahead.” They both nodded and did so. “Winston… take lead. I trust your nose to let us know of any danger.” He made a quiet huff in his throat and started down the passage.

We walked for what seemed ages, the path sloping ever downward. Eventually, I could see water trickling down the walls ahead of us. “Must be heading under the lake now,” I whispered.

The walls of the passage now grew slimy with mold and moss. The floor was slippery and in some places, we waded through puddles of water from ankle to knee deep. The smell was dank and very unpleasant.

“Ugh!” Zevran grumbled. “I think I stepped in something… squishy.”

“Let’s keep moving,” Alistair whispered. “I am really not comfortable down here.”

Fortunately, the path began to rise and dry out as we left the lake area. I heard Alistair breathe a sigh of relief. The passage widened somewhat finally ending at a door. Zevran reached out a hand to pull the door open when Winston suddenly growled.

“Stop!” I whispered urgently to Zevran. I held my ball of light closer and looked at the walls and floor around the door. I saw the iridescent shimmer of webs. “Shit!” I muttered. “I **hate** spiders!” I uttered a few more choice words, which even seemed to shock Zevran. “I think you might want to stand back for this one, fellas…” They both complied. Even Winston whined and backed up.

Readying the spell in my mind, I carefully pulled on the door. At first, it didn’t want to budge. I took a deep breath and pulled harder. The door slowly opened revealing a massive white tangle of webs behind it. I aimed my staff. “Teine losgadh!” I shouted. A gout of flame burst from my staff and began to burn the webs away. With a sudden whooshing noise, the entire room beyond suddenly filled with fire as the webs went up like dry tinder. Then the flames died down and went out. All was silent for a few seconds, then I heard clicking noises.

“Uh-oh,” I said slowly as I backed up. “Uh, guys? I think you might want to give a hand here…” The first of many red glowing eyes were now reflecting back through the doorway at us. Knowing I was going to dread what lay beyond, but also knowing we had to see what we were up against, I blew on the hand holding the light ball and said, “Sgaoileadh solas!” <Distribution of light!> The ball flew from my hand into the room and burst brightly.

I wanted to throw up. There were dozens of spiders in the room all crawling towards us. Some of them were as big as Winston. _Shit Shit SHIT_ _SHIT!!_ _!_

Zevran used stealth and vanished. I heard a really unpleasant screeching as two spiders suddenly died. I saw Zevran’s daggers flashing in the room. One by one spiders dropped, their many limbs still twitching. I shuddered. Once a path had been somewhat cleared, Alistair and Winston charged into the room. Spiders started dying faster. I then took a deep breath, trying to calm my churning gut, and started casting some freeze spells to finish off the rest. Finally, they were all dead.

Zevran quickly reappeared and then asked me for a flask. I gave him one. He quickly went around to the largest spider corpses and extracted some venom from their dripping fangs.

“What are you doing?” I asked him.

“I can use this to make some poison for my daggers,” he calmly said.

“Uh… please hurry with that,” I asked. “I **really** don’t want to be here any longer than necessary.”

“Very well,” he nodded. “I think I have enough, for now.” He capped the flask and slipped it onto a loop on his belt.

At the back of the room was a flight of stairs leading up. We ran over to them. “Tilleadh aotrom!” <Come light!> I shouted, and the ball of light returned to my hand. We ran up the circular staircase.

The next room we finally got to after climbing for what seemed ages was a large storeroom of some type. There were boxes, bags, and all sorts of dry goods. I saw piles of chewed up scraps and filth in the corners of the room. Winston was growling again. Putting my hand on Alistair’s arm, I whispered, “Alistair? What about the R.O.U.S’s?”

He chuckled lightly and said, “Rodents of unusual size? I don’t think they exist…” **2**

Just then they burst out from all corners of the storeroom. Alistair grabbed his sword and muttered, “Inconceivable!” **3**

 

After dealing with the R.O.U.S’s in the storeroom, we made our way through several long, winding passageways. There were a lot more undead creatures lurking about here. We quickly killed them off.

At the end of another hall, we found a small room. I opened the door expecting something to attack us. Instead, I was surprised by a girl who screamed at the sight of us.

“Please! Don't hurt me!”

“Calm down,” I said. “We won’t hurt you.”

“I-I'm sorry. I'm just so frightened! There are monsters everywhere! I found this closet to hide in. My name's Valena and I am the Arlessa's maid.”

“Valena? Are you Owen’s daughter?” I asked.

“You know my father? I want to go back to the village! Is there a way out of here?”

“There's a tunnel that we came through, but it’s dangerous and dark. I suggest you stick with us for a little while. We are heading towards the courtyard.”

“Oh, I know that way. There is a gate that will lead out of the castle and back to the village,” she said. “B-but what about the monsters ahead of us?”

“I will keep you safe, lovely woman,” Zevran murmured close to her ear. Valena blushed.

“Really Zevran? Again? There is a time and place for that you know…” I sighed.

Despite my chastising him, Valena nonetheless stayed close to Zevran. Finally, we found ourselves in a hallway lined with prison cells. Ahead there was a group of skeletons, and they seemed to be attacking someone in one of the cells.

The hallway was small, not enough room for multiple people to attack, so I just quickly cast a cone lightning spell and blasted the skeletons to bits. From the cell at the end, I heard someone call out.

“Hello? Who’s out there?”

_Why did that voice sound familiar?_

I approached the cell, Alistair was right behind me. When I realized who was in the cell, my face showed utter shock. Apparently, so did the face of the prisoner.

“Jowan?”

“Kylara?”

At the same time, “What are **you** doing here?”

Bemused, Alistair said, “I take it you know each other?”

I turned to him and said dryly, “Yes. You could say that.” To Jowan, I then said, “Funny that I should run into you, and you’re in a prison cell. So you finally got caught, did you?”

Jowan scowled.

“Caught? Why? What has he done?” Alistair asked.

“Jowan is a maleficar - a blood mage. He escaped from the Circle Tower. But since he destroyed his phylactery, the Templars have been unable to track him.”

“Funny how you don’t mention **your** role in that tale,” Jowan muttered.

“Isolde also mentioned a mage that had summoned the evil that is plaguing the castle. I guess we are looking at the one responsible.”

Jowan ran up to the bars, grabbed them and shouted, “I did no such thing! The arlessa is lying!”

I glared at him in the cell. He backed away from the bars. “What’s with your eyes?” He was clearly creeped out by their glow.

“I am a Grey Warden.”

“So?” he said.

“You asked about my eyes. Apparently, in the presence of darkspawn, or with strong emotion, they glow. Do you have a problem with that?”

“No.”

“Fine then.” I then turned to the rest of my group. “Let’s go then. We need to find Teagan and the arlessa.”

“What about him?” Alistair asked.

“Yes… What about me?” Jowan drawled.

“Shall I dispatch him for you?” Zevran said with a grin as he whipped out his daggers. Jowan drew back even further into his cell, looking fearfully at Zevran.

“No Zev. Leave him alone, for now.” I then turned back to Jowan and said, “I don’t know why you are really here, or what you’ve really done… but whatever it is, I am sure you deserve it.”

“You know, you have become a real bitch, Kylara,” Jowan spat. “And to think I used to call you a friend.”

“I don’t have time to deal with you now. I have more important things to take care of. Have fun in your little cage there. Better hope no more undead pester you.” I started walking off.

Alistair seemed surprised by my hostile attitude. “You are really leaving him here?” he asked.

I turned back to look at Alistair. “We don’t know why he is in there. Best to leave him until we find out.”

“I suppose you are right.”

As we left the cells, I heard Jowan shout foul curse words at me. I ignored him.

We finally found the stairs leading to the trapdoor in the courtyard. Alistair had to push hard against the trapdoor to open it, but finally, we were out in the fresh air and sunshine. Pity we couldn’t enjoy our freedom as another group of undead swarmed out to attack… and this group included a revenant. Just our luck. Valena stayed cowering by the trapdoor.

The revenant used an ability that yanked us over to it. I quickly cast a paralyze spell, but it resisted. Alistair and Winston attacked from either side as Zevran quickly got behind it. Flanked on all sides, it quickly went down.

With every undead in the courtyard now finished, I ran over to the portcullis. Ser Perth and his knights were there, along with Sten, Morrigan, Wynne, and Leliana. I pulled the handle to open the gate, but it refused to budge.

“It’s stuck!” I cried out.

“Don’t worry about it, Ser Perth hollered back. Just get inside and find out what is going on!”

“Valena. You stay here. Ser Perth and the rest can keep an eye on you. We need to get inside the castle.”

She nodded. The four of us then entered the castle.

 

We walked into a dark and cold castle. There was a glow from a fire coming from a room up ahead, so we made our way towards it quietly. I peered around the corner into the next room. It appeared to be an audience chamber. I was guessing this is where the arl met with people who needed to see and speak with him on various issues. Four guards flanked a large fireplace, two on each side. Isolde stood next to a young boy. She looked completely terrified of him. On the floor in front of the boy I saw Teagan, but he was acting very… odd. He was dancing a wild jig, and flipping all over the room. The young boy – which had to be Connor – was clapping wildly at Teagan’s antics.

They both stopped when the boy saw the four of us approaching the dais.

“So,” Connor spoke in a voice that was clearly not one that belonged to a ten-year-old boy. “These are our visitors? The ones you told me about, mother?”

Trembling, Isolde said, “Y-yes, Connor.”

“The one in front. This is the one who defeated my soldiers? The ones I sent to reclaim my village?” Connor’s deeply shadowed eyes narrowed at me.

“Yes,” Isolde whispered.

“It’s staring at me! What is it, mother? I can’t see it well enough.”

“This… this is a woman, Connor. Just as I am.”

“You lie! This woman is nothing at all like you! Why just look at her! Half your age, and pretty too!” Connor laughed cruelly. “I’m surprised you don’t order her executed in a fit of jealousy!”

Isolde fell to her knees. “C-Connor! I beg you, don’t hurt anyone!”

Suddenly, Connor shook his head. In his normal voice, he suddenly said, “M-mother? W-what is happening to me? Where am I?”

“Oh, thank The Maker! Connor! Connor, can you hear me?” Isolde cried.

Connor shook his head again, and then shouted in the demonic voice, “Get away from me, fool woman! You are beginning to bore me!” He then backhanded her. She fell to the floor.

I readied my staff. Alistair grabbed his sword and Zevran his daggers. Winston growled. Slowly, Isolde sat back up. She wiped a small amount of blood off of her face and pleaded with us. “Grey Wardens! Please don’t hurt my son! He’s not responsible for what he does!”

“So **he** is the evil force you spoke of?”

“NO!” Isolde wailed. “Please do not say that! Connor didn’t mean to do this! It was that mage… the one who poisoned my husband! He started all of this!”

“What?!” Alistair exclaimed. “That mage poisoned Arl Eamon?!”

“Yes,” Isolde said furiously. “He did that, and he summoned a demon into my son!” She sobbed again. “Connor was just trying to help his father!”

Connor growled. “It was a fair deal! Father is alive… just as I wanted! Now it is **my** turn to sit on the throne and send out armies to conquer the world! Nobody tells me what to do anymore!”

Teagan spoke in a strange and ridiculous voice. “Noooobody tells him what to do! Noooobody! Ha ha ha!”

“Quiet uncle!” Connor yelled. “I warned you what would happen if you kept shouting! Didn’t I? Yes, I did!” Connor turned back to face me. “But let’s keep things civil. This woman will have the audience she seeks. Tell us… What have you come here for?”

“I came here to help if I could,” I said.

“Help me? Help father? Or help yourself? Which is it?”

“I came here to see Arl Eamon,” I told Connor.

“So, you’re a concerned well-wisher. Why didn’t you say that in the first place? All this sneaking around and killing is so… unnecessary!” Connor’s eyes narrowed hatefully. “My father is so very ill! We shouldn’t disturb him! Isn’t that right, mother?”

Isolde trembled. “I-I don’t think…”

“Of course you don’t!” Connor snapped at her. “Ever since you sent the Knights away, you do nothing but deprive me of my fun! Frankly, it’s getting dull. I crave excitement and action! This woman spoiled my sport by saving that stupid village! Now she will repay me!” Connor muttered something we couldn’t hear and then ran off.

All of a sudden, the four guards and Teagan began attacking us. I quickly cast a cone of cold, which halted two guards and Teagan in their tracks. I was able to use stonefist to shatter one guard, while Alistair used his shield to shatter another. Zevran quickly dealt with the other two guards, as Alistair and I focused on Teagan. He collapsed, and it was over.

“Teagan!” Isolde ran up to him and helped him up. “Are you all right?”

“I am… better now, I think. My mind is my own again,” he said.

“Blessed Andraste!” Isolde cried. “I would have never forgiven myself had you died. Not after I brought you here. What a fool I am.” She turned to me. “Please, Connor is not responsible for this! There must be some way we can save him!”

“I am not about to kill a child,” I stated.

Teagan sighed. “I do not know if we can save him. Demons do not listen to reason.”

Isolde shook her head. “He is not always the demon you saw. My Connor is still inside there and sometimes he breaks through. Please! I just want to protect him!”

“Isn’t that what started all of this, Isolde?” Teagan said to her angrily. “You hired that mage to try and teach Connor in secret. To ‘protect him’!”

“If they had discovered that Connor had magic… then they’d take him away! I thought if he learned just enough… to hide it, then…”

“Wait,” Alistair asked in shock. “Connor is a mage?”

Isolde nodded miserably. 

“Where do you think Connor has run off to? I asked.

“I think he ran upstairs,” Teagan said. “The family quarters are up there.”

“Violence scares him,” Isolde murmured. “I know that may sound strange. He may have run up to his room, or…”

“What are our options then?”

Alistair sighed. “I wouldn’t normally suggest slaying a child, but he’s become an abomination. I’m not sure there is any choice.”

“You will **not** murder my son!” Isolde shouted at Alistair. “How dare you even suggest such a thing!” Under her breath, she muttered, “It should have been you that died back then…”

Alistair winced. I took his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. He looked at me gratefully.

“Connor is my nephew,” Teagan said slowly, “but he is also possessed by a demon. Death would be… merciful.”

“NO!” Isolde cried out. “W-what about that mage? He might know something of this demon he summoned. If he still lives we could speak to him!”

“He is down in the dungeon, still alive. But I caution you… I do not think he is trustworthy,” I warned.

“Teagan, bring him here. Immediately!” Isolde said firmly. “I too, do not think we can trust him… but we must find out what he knows.”

“I will go and get him, but if he gives me any trouble, I will not hesitate to kill him.”

“I will go with you. I can cast a binding spell so that he can’t move his arms,” I said. Teagan nodded, and we left together.

 

We came back up into the audience chamber, Teagan holding Jowan by his bound arms. We forced him to his knees. I went up and whispered something into Zevran’s ear. He quickly nodded, got behind Jowan, withdrew his dagger, and held it up to Jowan’s throat. I could see the panic in Jowan’s eyes.

“So, Jowan,” I said simply. “You will kindly answer any and all questions put to you, or I have my friend here end you. Sounds like a plan then?”

He swallowed nervously and gave the barest nod of his head.

“You are lucky to be alive, Jowan,” Isolde said angrily. “After all that you have done to my family!”

“As I told you before, Lady Isolde… I did not summon any demons! I swear!”

“But you did poison the arl,” I said. “Why?”

Jowan was sweating. “I… did it because… Teryn Loghain told me to! He told me that Arl Eamon was a threat!”

“Of course that bastard would do that,” Teagan muttered. “My brother is the only one who could potentially stand against him.”

“Is there any cure for this poison?” Alistair asked.

“If there is, I don’t know it,” Jowan replied.

“What was in it?”

“I don’t know! I was just handed a vial and told to dump it into his evening meal. I didn’t ask what was in it! I…” Zevran tightened his grip on Jowan. His razor-sharp dagger cut a thin line on Jowan’s neck. Blood oozed from the wound and dripped onto Jowan’s tattered robes.

“Easy Zev. Let’s not have any… accidents,” I said. He loosened his grip. Barely.

“Going back to the other issue at hand,” Teagan stated. “What have you done to my nephew?”

Jowan trembled. “I-I only taught him some very basic magic…”

“You? Teach? That is a laugh!” I shook my head at him. “You didn’t even graduate out of apprenticeship! You couldn’t teach anyone anything!”

Jowan’s eyes filled with anger as he glared at me.

“Please, Warden. Let me handle this now,” Teagan asked.

“Sorry,” I mumbled. Jowan managed to smirk at me.

“So you taught him some magic. And then what?”

“I am guessing,” Jowan began carefully, “that because his father was sick…”

“Because of **you** ,” I murmured. Alistair put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me back towards him. “Shh…” he whispered to me.

“…because I poisoned the arl… Connor may have accidentally opened the veil in his worry for his father. That could have summoned the demon. Perhaps then, Connor made… a deal with it… to keep his father alive,” Jowan said slowly.

“I still do not believe you,” Isolde frowned.

“Nevertheless,” Teagan said, holding up a finger at Isolde. “There is a demon in Connor now. Can we get rid of it?”

“Killing Connor would be the easiest way to…” Jowan tried to say, but Isolde would not have that.

“NEVER!” she shouted, tears in her eyes.

“Isolde!”

“Um, there is another way…” Jowan said quietly.

“What? What other way?” Teagan asked.

“A mage could confront the demon in The Fade; without hurting Connor himself.”

I was surprised a selfish bastard like Jowan would even offer that option.

“What do you mean? I thought the demon was within Connor,” Teagan stated.

Jowan took a deep breath. “The demon must have approached Connor, possibly when he was dreaming, and offered him a deal. The demon now controls him from there.”

“Is there a way to do this?” Teagan asked hopefully. “Enter The Fade and kill the demon?”

“Normally the procedure requires a lot of mages and lyrium to do this,” Jowan explained, “But I have… blood magic.”

“No! No way! Not an option!” I said forcefully. “Don’t you even think about it Jowan!” I then turned to Teagan and Isolde. “What he intends would require a sacrifice. He would need to kill someone in order to do that… ritual. Blood magic like that uses the life force of others as raw mana.”

“Then let it be my blood,” Isolde said bravely. “I will be the sacrifice.”

“What?! Isolde, are you mad?” Teagan said, shocked. “Eamon would never allow this!”

“I want to save my boy! I will do anything!”

“Blood magic is evil!” Alistair said firmly. “Two wrongs do not make a right!”

“Then you have another idea?” Isolde snapped at him.

“I… might have a way,” I said. Everyone stared at me. “We put Connor into an enchanted, dreamless sleep to keep him calm. Then I go to the Circle and bring back the help we would need. I can cast the first sleep spell, but after that, we’d need Wynne and Morrigan to both take turns maintaining it. If they work together, once I can get back with the Circle, they can help me enter The Fade. I will deal with the demon. But, I would need a faster way to get there and back. Walking would definitely take too long.”

“We can provide that,” Teagan said. “We have a horse-drawn carriage that could get you there. It should cut the trip in half, at least.” **4** He turned to my friends. “Alistair, and Zevran? Was that it?” Zevran nodded. “Take Jowan back to his cell. He stays there. Until we decide what to do with him.”

They both nodded, got Jowan to his feet and led him back to the dungeon. As he was led away, he shot me a look of pure malice.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 Credit for this quote goes to the people who made my all-time favorite movie, “The Princess Bride” Thank you for such a fun and fantastic film!
> 
> 3 ...and another quote from “The Princess Bride” lol!
> 
> 4 I know in the game, Teagan states that the Tower is only “a days journey across the lake”, but I never thought that was quite accurate. The fact that you can fast travel in the game doesn’t help either. Doing my research, I found numbers that were all over the bloody place for travel distances and times across Ferelden. I ended up using this source for most of my travel distances: http://elvenbeard.tumblr.com/post/139535812529/cassandrashipsit-leliaanaa-origins-travel (Thanks for your guide!!)


	14. Seeking Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylara battles to save young Connor from a demon possession... and later, Kylara, Alistair, and Sten make a trip to Denerim to find clues on the Urn of Sacred Ashes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art of Chibi Kylara having some splashing fun with Chibi Alistair by the fantastically-kawaii Angels767! Thanks!! (https://angels767.tumblr.com/)

I walked silently upstairs with Teagan and Isolde. I heard Connor in his room. He appeared to be tearing the books on his shelves to shreds. Quietly I whispered the enchantment. “Cadal. Na biodh eagal ort. Na bi bruadar agad. Fuirich socair agus sàmhach.” <Sleep. Do not be scared. Do not have a dream. Stay calm and quiet.>

We heard a soft thump. When we entered the room, Connor was on the floor breathing deeply, his eyes closed.

“He will sleep for several hours. I will get my other two friends to help me keep the enchantment going. This way, Connor can hurt no one until I get back.”

Isolde came to me. “Thank you. But we must hurry. Go and get your other friends.”

The portcullis was now easily opened. My guess is that Connor, or the demon within, had been keeping it sealed. Valena thanked me again for saving her and then ran back to the village to go back to her father.

I explained to the rest of the group all that had happened. Ser Perth was aghast to hear that little Connor was possessed. Sten was not happy that more evil magic was involved, but I explained that I would do all I could to save the boy and kill the demon. He nodded once. I told Morrigan and Wynne of my sleep enchantment on Connor and how they would have to help. Wynne immediately agreed. Morrigan was more reluctant, but also agreed to help.

It was determined that only Alistair and I would go to the Tower. That way, if there were any further troubles in Redcliffe, the rest of my friends could help handle it. Lady Isolde, apparently feeling more grateful now to both me and Alistair, generously gave us some old cast-off clothing she had, so we would not have to wear our armor for the entire trip. I thanked her.

Teagan headed back down to the village with us to get the carriage ready. I found Bodahn and with him, went to his cart. I got some of our supplies out. Once the carriage had pulled up, I packed our belongings and bedrolls. The tents were too bulky, so I left them on the cart. Some villagers provided us with some travel rations. Before we left, I sent a note by carrier bird ahead to the Tower to alert the First Enchanter of what was going on. Then Alistair and I climbed into the carriage and the driver jiggled on the reins to get us moving.

It was my first time ever riding in a carriage, and I wasn’t so sure I was going to enjoy it much. It rocked, swayed, and bumped very uncomfortably down the road. I might have started turning a bit green because Alistair put his arm around and held me tight against him to comfort me.

“It won’t be like this for long, once we get to the main road, things should smooth out a bit.”

“Ooo… I sure hope so,” I muttered, trying very hard to keep my stomach from churning.

Even after the main road did smooth out, I still ended up having the driver pull over. Poor Alistair had to witness me, usually so brave and clever, losing my lunch by the side of the road.

“Sorry about that…” I mumbled. He rubbed my back gently.

“Don’t apologize. You’re not used to this. Besides, it’s not like I haven’t seen someone get sick before. Those pillow fights we used to have could get a little rough…”

I looked up at him and he gave me a small grin, clearly trying to cheer me up. I started giggling.

“There now, see? You’re feeling better already.” Slowly, he helped me to stand. We then walked back to the carriage and got in. The driver got us back underway. I swallowed a lump down.

“Still not my favorite travel method…” I closed my eyes.

 

While we were traveling, there was continuing conflict in Denerim.

“Sire, I have… more news,” Rendon Howe said as he approached the throne where Loghain sat. “Um, yes…”

“Spit it out, Howe. I don’t have all day.”

“Well, it seems that the fighting has gone exactly as you – ”

Queen Anora suddenly burst into the room and quickly interjected herself into the conversation. “Enough! I would like to know what you intend to accomplish father. Should we not be fighting the darkspawn instead of each other?”

“The nobility shall be brought into line and then the darkspawn defeated. This is no true Blight, Anora. Only Cailan’s vanity demanded it be so.”

“Beg pardon sire,” Howe said slowly, “but Blight or no, we may not have the manpower to face the darkspawn soon.”

“Cailan approached the Orleasians for support, did he no – ”

“NEVER!” Loghain bellowed at his daughter. “Maric and I drove those bastards out! I’ll not roll out the welcome for them now!”

“We need help, father!” Anora pleaded. “We cannot deal with this crisis alone!”

“Ferelden will stand on its own!” Loghain took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself. “I **will** lead us through this, Anora. You must have faith in me.”

Anora looked at her father in shock as she realized a sudden truth. “Did you… kill my husband?”

“Cailan’s death was his own doing…” Loghain muttered.

Anora shook her head slowly and backed away from her father. Then she turned and stormed out of the room.

 

Our first night found us back at our old campsite. Alistair had managed to direct the driver off of the road and guided him to our shortcut between the two roads. It was a very narrow fit in some areas between the trees, but when we finally got to the clearing I had to call it for the day. The driver unhitched the horses and let them graze nearby. Still queasy, I sat down on a log while Alistair unloaded a few supplies.

He built a small campfire and then tried to offer me some of the food that had been provided. I shook my head.

Alistair got up from the log and disappeared into the trees. He came back shortly with a cup of water from the springs.

“Thank you,” I whispered. I sipped to cool refreshing water. After several minutes, I was feeling much better. I then asked Alistair if he would like to join me at the springs. He was curious as to why, but still nodded.

“I’ll be right back,” I said. Initially, I had planned to go to the springs alone, but then thought it might be nice if Alistair joined me. Knowing he would likely still be a bit shy, I went to the chest of stuff we had packed and dug through the clothes that Isolde had offered. I found a linen shirt and pair of pants that looked as though they would fit Alistair, then found a long linen nightshirt that I could use. I then headed back to where Alistair was waiting.

“What do you have there?” he asked.

“You will see,” I smiled.

We walked over to the springs. I placed my hand on one of the nearby trees and whispered, “Thoir an geasa air ais.” <Bring the spell back.> The vines of roses slowly bloomed on the trees again. The fireflies returned as well. With the glowing lichen adding to the effect, the area looked magical. **5** I could see Alistair’s eyes glowing subtly as well. I dropped my bundle on the ground as Alistair swept me into his warm embrace and began kissing me… tenderly at first, but growing in passion. 

We stayed like that for awhile, and then he finally pulled away. “You are amazing, Kylara,” he whispered. “I-I love you.”

My heart skipped a beat.

“I hope it is not too soon for me to say that to you,” He took a quick breath, “but you make me feel… so **alive** when I am with you.” He closed his eyes and then murmured, “I hope I haven’t just made a fool of myself…”

“No,” I whispered back. I then gently pulled his face to mine. “You haven’t.” I brushed my lips against his softly.

He sighed softly. “Thank you.”

We sat down on a large rock by the springs in silence for awhile, just enjoying each other’s company. Finally, he quietly asked, “So what is that? You must have brought those things for a reason.”

“I thought we could bathe… together.” I could practically feel the heat of his blush, so I quickly continued, “I brought these old clothes with me. I figured you’d feel more comfortable that way… For the time being. ”

“Ah.” I then heard him breathe a sigh of relief. “Y-yes… For the time being… that might be a good idea.”

“Still a little nervous?” I asked.

“Yes… but I think I will be okay.”

So we parted ways for a bit. I unbuckled the straps on my mage robe and slid it off. Still in my underclothes, I slipped on the long linen shirt. I hung my robes over a nearby branch and then made my way back to the springs. Alistair was back as well, dressed in the pants and shirt I had brought.

“I hope this doesn’t make me look ridiculous in your eyes. Bathing with clothes on does seem a little… strange,” he said.

“I was the one who suggested it. Besides, I told you I would wait; until you were ready.”

He nodded. Then he asked, “Are you going to do that spell again? The one where you made the water warm?”

“If you like, I can,” I smiled.

“I think that I would.”

So, as before, I used my magic to heat the water of a larger spring pool, big enough for both of us. Once it was warm, I climbed in. I smoothed down the shirt I was wearing and then sat on a lower outcropping of rock.

“Come on in, the water feels nice,” I said.

He stepped in and sat down on a similar outcropping. “Wow,” he said and sighed. “This does feel wonderful. It is very relaxing.”

“Can you get your head wet?” I asked.

He dunked himself under the water briefly. When he came back up, he had a silly smile on his face. “What do you have in mind now?”

“Turn around and back up a bit.” He did so. I then reached down and picked up a flask of the soaproot that I had quickly made before returning to the springs. I poured it into my hands and then reached up and began lathering it Alistair’s hair. He closed his eyes in bliss.

“You are going to spoil me, aren’t you? Mmm, that feels really nice,” he murmured.

Once I had finished, he ducked under to rinse it off. It dissipated in the water quickly.

“May I… do that for you?” he asked. “Do you have some more of that?”

I did, so I got my own hair wet, and then let him wash my hair. He did a very thorough job. I grinned and then rinsed my own hair. I turned back around and we sat facing each other for a bit. He had a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “What are you thinking?” I asked him.

He didn’t say anything, but instead cupped his hands in the water just so… and the next thing I knew, he used them to shoot a jet of water at my face.

“Hey!” I sputtered. Then I gave him my own wicked little smile. “You sure you want to play that kind of game with a mage?” I muttered a quiet spell and formed a globe of water above his head.

“Uh-oh,” he said just before it splashed down on top of him.

The two of us burst out laughing. We splashed each other for a while more, then he grabbed my hand and pulled me close to him, and pressed his lips against mine. We kissed again. Finally, he pulled away. “You are so much fun to be with,” he said quietly. “I am so glad you’re you… instead of some other Grey Warden.”

“Thank you, Alistair. I really enjoy being with you as well.” I shivered a little. “The water is getting cold again. I think I’ll get out now.” I smiled at him and then stepped out of the pool. I stood in front of him for a moment water dripping off of the linen shirt.

“Mmm… wet frocks,” he said with a grin.

“Oh, you!” I laughed, then asked, “Are you planning on getting out?”

“I will in a little while,” he said. “Go on and head back to our camp. I’ll be there shortly.”

I was sure I knew the real reason for his reluctance to get out of the water just then. I politely and quietly gathered up my stuff and headed back to the campfire, so as not to embarrass my sweet and lovable Alistair.

 

After a great night’s sleep, I got back into my mage robe. Alistair also got back into his full armor. We packed everything back up and then got underway. As we drove past the springs, Alistair noticed the spell was gone.

I explained, “That was a temporary recall spell I had used last night. It only would have lasted a few hours.”

“Still incredible, what you did there,” he said with praise. “You never cease to amaze me, Kylara.”

We finally got through the other side of the woods, and back onto the road, Lake Calenhad on our left. I looked to the south, thinking I could just make out the cliffs where the arl’s castle was. The road had smoothed out considerably, making the carriage ride a bit more tolerable today.

We got through about half the day when we felt the carriage slow down and then come to a stop. Alistair poked his head out of the window.

“There is another carriage on the road in front of us,” he said.

We got out, as did the people in the other carriage. Much to my surprise, it was First Enchanter Irving, Petra, and Kinnon!

“Ah, Kylara. It is good to see you,” Irving said. “We got your message and decided to start heading your way as quickly as we could. If the boy is truly possessed, then we must help him as fast as possible. Your idea to enter The Fade to battle the demon is a risky one, but it should work, if you defeat it.” He put his hand on my arm. “But if anyone could do it, though, it would be you.” He then beckoned over Petra and Kinnon. “Get our belonging transferred over to their carriage, please. We need to get back to Redcliffe.”

Our carriage driver turned around, we got their few belongings packed, and then went on our way.

Irving shook hands with Alistair once we were underway. “I remember you, young man. You helped Kylara and Wynne with our… situation at the tower. Quite fortuitous that we ran into you both,” he said. “You got here rather quickly seeing as we just got Kylara’s message yesterday. We traveled through the night to get here.”

Alistair explained about the shortcut that we took through the woods.

“Ah, that would explain it,” Irving nodded. “I take it, we will be doing that again for the return.” I nodded.

We chatted about various things for awhile, but eventually, the discussion turned to Jowan.

“I have to say, I am truly disappointed in him,” Irving was saying. “He did have the potential to become a great mage, but his trying to take the ‘easy route’ through blood magic…”

“He is currently in a cell in the arl’s dungeon,” Alistair said. “Due to what he has done, poisoning Arl Eamon, I am sure they can’t release him back to you or the Templars at this time.”

“That is clear. He must be put on trial for his crimes. I just hope the arl can make a recovery.” Irving replied. “I still cannot believe he did that!”

Grimly, I said, “Teryn Loghain instructed him to do it.”

“Really? Now that is a surprise.” Irving furrowed his brows. “Isolated as we are in the Tower, I still knew there was something going on in Denerim since the King’s death. One would think you could have trusted the teryn.”

“Yes. One would think,” I muttered, then said, “Unfortunately, Alistair and I both have first-hand experience in ‘trusting’ Loghain.”

“Yes, Wynne had explained that all to me when she had returned from Ostagar herself. Honestly, I never thought that Loghain was capable of such treachery.”

“I have to say, even knowing all of that, you would think that Jowan would at least have questioned why, instead of just blindly doing it,” Kinnon said. “I certainly would have!”

“Except for the fact that questioning your betters can get you jailed, or executed,” Petra replied.

“Well, I would at least ask politely,” Kinnon mumbled, turning red.

“That aside, The Circle will not come to Jowan’s aid at this time. He will stay in the dungeon for now,” Irving said. “We will not do anything until either the arl recovers or…” No one wanted to mention the alternative.

 

We ended up back at our campsite again as it would only take one more day to get back to Redcliffe from our shortcut. Besides, I needed another break from the carriage.

Alistair set up a campfire for us all, and everyone spread out their bedrolls. I did notice that Alistair had placed his a bit closer to mine, and I blushed. I guessed he was slowly becoming more comfortable with our budding relationship.

After a quick meal and some tea that I made, we settled down to sleep. Within minutes, I heard the First Enchanter snoring. On our bedrolls, I faced Alistair and he faced me. He had taken off the bulkier pieces of his armor, so as to be more comfortable, but I still had on my full mage robe. We still had some space between us, but he gently reached over to stroke my face and hair.

“Goodnight, Kylara.” He leaned forward to kiss me gently, then whispered, “I love you.”

I whispered back, “I… love you too, Alistair.” Then I blushed. “That was all right for me to say?”

His big smile and follow up kisses pretty much answered my question.

 

By sundown, the next night, we had arrived back at Redcliffe. Bann Teagan was surprised to see us back so soon but was relieved that we had the help for Connor.

We explained about our shortcut and that the First Enchanter had also been on his way to us when we found each other.

“Isolde will be very happy by this. The sleep enchantment does not seem to be lasting as long. Connor has been very restless. We are guessing the demon is fighting your spell.,” he explained. We got up to the castle as quickly as Irving could walk.

Once we arrived in the audience chamber, Sten was carrying Connor down in his arms. Isolde, Leliana, and Wynne also were there. Irving, Petra, and Kinnon were preparing the ritual needed to send me into The Fade.

Finally, they were ready. Connor was lying on the floor of the dais, his mother sitting beside him and holding his hand and praying to The Maker. He was twitching in his sleep. Irving, Wynne, Kinnon, and Petra had formed a small circle around me. “Are you ready, Kylara?” Irving asked me.

I took a deep calming breath and said, “Yes, First Enchanter. I am ready.”

They all began chanting, joined hands glowing. I caught Alistair looking at me. I mouthed to him, “I’ll be all right.” Then I closed my eyes. I gently fell to the floor.

 

When I came to, I found myself in the Fade. There were ghostly images of Connor and Arl Eamon walking all over the place. I heard them all yelling.

“Connor? Where are you son?! Connor?”

“Father? Father!”

I made my way down a slope and turned a corner. Ahead of me was a non-ghostly form of Arl Eamon, standing in a facsimile of his bedroom. I approached him.

“You there! Have you seen my son?” he asked. “I can hear him, but I can not find him.”

Not sure if this could be a trick I said, “Are you really Arl Eamon, or are you a demon?”

He sputtered. “What kind of a question is that? I am Eamon, Arl of Redcliffe. Why would you ask me such a thing?” He then looked around as he heard Connor calling for his father again. “I can hear my son calling for me and I want to find him, but this blasted fog has me turning in circles! And where is my wife, Isolde? Why am I here?”

“You were poisoned, sir, and are in a deep sleep back at your castle. When your son tried to help you, he got possessed by a demon. You are now in a place called The Fade, where the demon has trapped you,” I explained.

“I was… poisoned? How? And my son is… possessed? What can I do? Oh, Connor…”

“Do not worry, sir. I am here to help you both. You must trust me.”

“I do trust you. I am not really sure why, but I do,” Eamon said. “Please, help my son.”

I nodded. “I must leave you, for now, sir. I will find your son and I will confront the demon in him.”

“Thank you. Maker protect you.”

I nodded and headed away from the arl, and found a portal swirling in front of me. I stepped through it. I made my way around this twisted version of The Fade and finally found Connor.

“Who are you,” he asked. “Are you the one that made father ill? Tell me now!”

Eyes narrowed, I said, “Are you truly Connor’s spirit or are you the demon?”

“How do I know **you** aren’t a demon that just looks like a person? Why should I trust you? I don’t know you!” Connor shouted.

“You could be a guardian of this realm, trying to confuse me. Tell me who you really are!”

The voice suddenly changed, becoming deep. It growled, “Fool! You won’t get near her! I won’t let you!” Connor’s body shook, and then suddenly vanished to be replaced by a demon.

I grabbed my staff, and quickly cast a few spells, but this demon went down a little too easy. This was not the right one. I had to find the real demon possessing Connor. I made my way back and found another portal. I stepped inside.

Another series of twisting paths and I found another Connor.

“Why are you hurting me?” he asked. “Why are you trying to stop me?

“Because you are just another trick. Begone demon! You will impede me no longer!”

Again, the voice of Connor changed. “You will not find what you seek! Turn back… NOW!”

“You fear me, demon. You know I will find what I am looking for! I will not give up until Connor is free of your foul influence!”

‘Connor’ vanished again, replaced this time by two demon guardians. I fought them, but just like before they went down easily.

Another portal opened. Again, I went through.

Now the ghostly Connors were getting aggressive to me, trying to block my way and shouting at me.

“Get out of here!”

“I will stop you!”

“You will never find her!”

After walking for what seemed ages, I saw yet another ‘Connor’, except this one didn’t even disguise the fact is was not the real Connor.

“Father wanders, seeking me. But I have him trapped I my web. All is as it should be. Why do you interfere?”

“I need the arl awake and well, and you need to leave this boy alone!”

“But she needs both of them. She will not be willing to let them go so easily! You need to leave here. Do not resist, or things will go very badly for you!”

Once again, ‘Connor’ vanished, to be replaced with more minor demons. A strong area spell took them all down.

“You think to play games, demon?!” I shouted at the sky. “Stop sending these pathetic minions of yours and face me!”

Another portal opened, but this one looked a little different. Hoping that this was finally the right one, I went in.

I came to a vast open space. A Desire Demon stood in front of me. _Figures it would be one of them,_ I thought.

She purred in her sultry voice. “Very well, no more illusions. Now we meet, face to face. You see my true form and stand in my domain. It is here that I am most powerful.” She rubbed her palms against her breasts and then down to her hips. “I have no real wish to engage your power, just as you should not wish to engage mine. Perhaps we could… converse instead?”

I said nothing, so she continued.

“I am Desire. Whatever you creatures of the mortal world want… I seek to provide. Lust? Greed? Power? All of these are my province. Perhaps there is something you wish for? It will cost you nothing but a moment of your time…”

“You have nothing that I want, disgusting creature!”

“Oh, but I **do** have something you want. I possess the boy’s soul. If you want it, you have to give me something in exchange. I would even throw in… an extra offer.”

“Why?”

“Because your soul is much more powerful, and I…” she fondled herself again. “…would want to give you a fair deal for it. Come now, what do you truly desire?”

“I wish for nothing but to be rid of you!” I leveled my staff at her. “Fight me, demon! Now!”

She sighed, “Oh, very well. But know that when I win, I get to keep both his soul as well as yours!”

She flew around me, much faster than the one I faced in the Circle Tower. Her spells hit hard, and I had to dodge her claw attacks as well. I got a few hits on her and thought I was doing pretty good… until one of her claw attacks raked across my chest. They cut deep, and I started bleeding quite hard.

I quickly cast a heal spell to try and stop the blood. The wound burned. I was going to have to finish this quickly if I wanted to survive. Suddenly, she vanished, to then be replaced by six other versions of her. I hit one with a spell, but it passed right through. All six copies began casting spells at me, and unfortunately, those did hit me. _Shit! I have to find the real demon…_ _and quickly!_

I quickly focused myself and whispered, “Faic an fhìrinn…” <See the truth...> One of the demons glowed. _There she is!_ I quickly blasted her with a strong frost spell. She froze and the illusions vanished. Then I used my strongest lightning spell and she screamed and burst into ash.

It was done. Connor was safe.

 

I woke up lying on a comfortable bed, Alistair sitting next to the bed on a chair. Teagan, Wynne, and Irving were also in the room.

“Oh, my head…” I moaned as I sat up. I then looked down and noticed the healing gashes on my chest. “What?” I asked as I fingered them.

“It seems that the demon injured you in The Fade. Somehow that wound manifested itself in the physical world as well. That is the sign of a very powerful demon,” Irving explained. “Wynne healed you. Given time, the scars should fade.”

“What about Connor?” I asked.

“You will be pleased to know that the boy is all right. He woke up shortly before you.”

“He does not seem to remember anything about what happened,” Teagan smiled slightly, then shook his head. “But, my brother…”

“He’s not…”

Teagan sighed. “No, he still lives, but we still cannot rouse him. I don’t know what to do.”

Just then, Isolde walked into the room. “We must find the Urn of Sacred Ashes. It is the only hope we have now of curing my husband.” She came up to me. “Kylara, I owe you a great deal for doing what you did to save my son, but I must ask. Would you now be willing to go to Denerim and track down Brother Genetivi?”

I turned around so that I sat on the edge of the bed. “I don’t object, Lady Isolde, but why me?”

“Because I know I can trust you,” she replied. “Finding Brother Genetivi is our only lead to finding the whereabouts of the Urn.”

“I don’t know if this will work,” Teagan said slowly, “The Urn is just a legend, but I really don’t think we have any other choice. That other young mage, Petra… she is a master alchemist and herbalist. Even she could not determine what type of poison it was. With no other hope for a cure…”

“I will go,” I said. “We need your brother’s help. So if that means chasing down this Brother Genetivi, then I will go to Denerim.”

“You won’t go alone,” Alistair said. “I will go with you.”

 

Once again, Bann Teagan provided us the carriage to get us to Denerim as swiftly as possible. Even so, it would still take about six days to get there, and another six days to return.

“Do you think the arl will be all right for another two weeks?” I asked with concern.

“The good news is that my brother does not seem to be getting worse,” Teagan said. “He just sleeps.” Magic for your mage friends also seems to keep him stable. As long as they are willing to stay, we should be all right.”

Isolde also provided guest rooms for all of us in the castle, including quarters close to her husband’s room for Irving, Wynne, Petra, and Kinnon, since they would be trying to help keep the arl stable. Morrigan was also offered rooms there as well, but she said she wanted the small guest room by the kitchens. Leliana and Zevran took some rooms on the ground floor. I asked Winston if he wanted to go, but he sat down next to Connor. I told him to keep watch over the boy and he barked an agreement. Connor was delighted. Sten did not want to stay in Redcliffe, so he decided to accompany us to Denerim as well.

Before we left, everyone gathered in the audience hall to say their goodbyes. I asked all my friends if they were going to be all right staying here while Alistair, Sten, and I were gone.

“I kind of miss traveling on the road, sleeping under the stars,” Leliana said, “But all of us going to Denerim would just make the trip longer. The sooner you can get there and back, then the sooner we can continue on our quest.”

“I do not mind staying here,” Zevran said. “While I crave adventure… staying away from The Crows is a good thing too. Keeps me alive.” He grinned at me.

Morrigan was still studying her mother’s grimoire, so she basically shooed me away with her hand. I sighed.

 

Early the next morning, we had everything packed and ready to go. Sten did not want to get into the small carriage. He said he would run alongside us. I wasn’t sure how he would be able to keep up with the speed of the carriage, but as I well enough knew, you just didn’t get into arguments with Sten.

As it turned out, Sten was a very fast runner. Perhaps his endurance had to do with the fact of him being Qunari, I had no idea.

Every evening at sundown, we would make camp. By dawn, after a quick meal, we would be back on the road.

By day two, we had neared the edge of Lothering. Alistair and I looked out of the carriage windows. What we saw utterly broke our hearts. The field was completely black. As we neared the town, all I could see was devastation everywhere. Crops withered and dead, buildings burned… everything was gone.

“I am so glad we got everyone evacuated,” Alistair quietly said to me. This is horrible! But you don’t want to know what the darkspawn do to survivors… or to the dead.” He swallowed. “It’s… not pleasant.” Tears misted his eyes. “I know that when this is all said and done, we will have to go back to… Ostagar. We need to find the King… and Duncan. They will need to be taken care of.”

I leaned up against Alistair and held his hand tightly. “We will go together. You won’t have to deal with that alone.”

“Thank you,” he whispered. “That means more to me than you know.”

Surprisingly, we managed to make it through the ruins of Lothering without any darkspawn occurrences. I think Sten was actually disappointed. Perhaps it was because there was nothing left for them to destroy, I didn’t know. I knew, however, that sooner or later we would be fighting them again.

 

On day four, we had reached a little town called South Reach. We had to restock on some of our supplies. Our carriage driver also wanted to swap out the team of horses, so as to give the ones we had had since Redcliffe a break. He went out to the Bann’s estate to negotiate, so Alistair, Sten and I went to the tavern. Even though I had sworn I was never going to drink beer again, I ended up having a pint alongside the boys. Sten muttered something about swill but drank it anyways.

After that, we headed back to our campsite on the outskirts of town. Alistair had hoped to get rooms with actual beds, but everything in town was full. Like Lothering before it, many people had fled here from the darkspawn. Sten had set up his bedroll a ways off from us and was soon asleep.

Alistair and I sat next to each other, our backs up against a large rock, and stared up at the stars. Ever since the time we had had our evening together at the springs, I had kept hoping that he would finally admit that he wanted to be with me completely… but so far nothing. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t noticed his desire. During the times he was only wearing breeches it was made abundantly clear. Out of politeness, I had avoided saying anything. Tonight, however, (and again, it may have been because of the beer) I finally had to say something.

“Alistair?”

“Yes, dear?”

“If you were raised in the Chantry, have you never…”

He grinned. “Never? Never what? Had a good pair of shoes?”

I sighed. It figures he'd try to joke about it. “You know what I mean.”

“I’m not sure I do. Have I never seen a basilisk? Ate jellied ham? Have I never licked a lamppost in winter?”

“You’re just making fun of me,” I muttered.

“Make fun of you, my sweet? Perish the thought!” He leaned closer to me and murmured, “Well, tell me? Have yooou ever liiicked a laaamppost in winter?”

I frowned. “That is not what I meant and you know it.”

“Ohh, so **that’s** what you’re talking about…” Finally turning a bit more serious, he said, “Well, I admit I’ve never just had a woman come out and ask me, that’s for sure…” He blushed slightly. “I, uh, can’t say that I’ve actually had any opportunities to, um, do so. Not that I haven’t thought about it, of course, but you know…”

“You are attracted to me, aren’t you?”

“Yes, of course! You’re ravishing, resourceful, and all those things you’d probably hurt me for not saying!”

“So… why have we not gone any further?” I hesitantly asked.

He was silent for so long, I was afraid that maybe I had gone too far with my questions. Finally, he spoke quietly.

“I guess, it may be because I am… afraid.” I saw him close his eyes and shake his head slowly. “I do love you, Kylara. But, it is a huge step… and there are so many things that are going on now; the Blight, the arl’s health, Loghain…” He sighed deeply. “Believe me, I have thought about it… a lot.”

“Are you mad at me? For asking?”

He put his arm around me and gave me a brief squeeze. “No. But I really don’t want to talk about it anymore.” He pulled away from me and then went to lay down on his bedroll. “Come now, we need to get to sleep. Two more days and we should be in Denerim.”

I nodded but made no move to lay down myself. I heard Alistair get himself settled, and soon he was asleep.

I looked back up at the stars again, but could not really see them clearly because of the tears in my eyes.

 

Dawn arrived. I felt Alistair touch my shoulder and I awoke with a start. I had fallen asleep leaning on the rock.

“Kylara? Everything okay? You never came to bed last night.”

I rubbed my sleepy eyes. “Uh, I am okay. I guess the ale last night made me sleepier than usual…”

I looked up at him briefly and saw questions on his face, but then I had to look away from the guilt I felt. I knew I shouldn’t have said some of the stuff I had the night before.

“Come now,” he said and lent me a hand to help me up. He then handed me a travel ration. “The carriage should be arriving soon.”

As I nibbled on my travel cake, I wondered if Alistair was possibly still upset with my pressuring him again. I didn’t get much of a chance to think on it, as the carriage soon arrived being pulled by new horses. We packed everything up and got in.

Alistair sat on one side of the carriage, and I sat on the other. It was the first time in a long while that we sat so far apart from one another. After half a day of traveling in silence, I couldn’t take it anymore. I tried to hold back the tears… and failed. At first, they were silent, but then my breath then hitched and Alistair heard me.

“Kylara? What’s wrong?” I just cried harder. He scooted closer to me and embraced me. “Please tell me,” he said worriedly, “why are you crying?”

I finally took a breath and it all came out in a rush. “I shouldn’t have asked you such personal questions last night! I am really sorry. I don’t want to drive you away from me! Please don’t hate me! I couldn't stand it if you hated me!” The tears flowed faster.

“Hate you?” he said in a shocked tone. “I could never hate you! I love you, Kylara. More than words can say!”

“Y-you do? After all that last night? You still…”

He tenderly held my face, and then kissed me. “I do.” He took a breath and then said, “I have just been thinking a lot about what you said last night. I want to take our relationship further… I really do. I just think the timing is… not convenient.” He kissed me softly again and murmured, “I think about us being together in that way **constantly** and it drives me crazy that I can’t bring myself to act on it. I am worried that you… think me a coward.”

I shook my head. “I never thought that,” I whispered. “I worried that you thought me too overbearing and pushy…”

He gave a small smile. “Well, maybe a little, but in a good way. I wouldn’t want you any other way.” He brushed the tears off of my face.

“Truly?”

“Absolutely,” he reassured me. “All I ask is that we keep things the way they are… for now.” Another soft kiss. “But believe me when I say that I do want more… someday.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5 Inspiration borrowed from “A Magical Kiss” mod by SarahCousland https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/4651?tab=description I had always planned for a small spring fed area near my party camp in my story, seeing this mod for the first time cinched the deal. ^_~ Thanks, Sarah! (and many thanks to Tini for capturing the footage of the mod so I could get a nice screenshot of it for the story... since my PC is pathetic and can't play a 10-yr old game with mods... lol!)


	15. Searching for Genetivi and Back to Redcliffe (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylara finds out where they need to go next to find the mysterious Urn of Sacred Ashes. Later Morrigan asks Kylara for a favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beautiful art of Alistair helping Kylara after she casts a strong spell which drains her, by LadyTherin (http://shepofshipsart.tumblr.com)
> 
> ** Mature Content ahead **

Finally, late afternoon of day six, we were in Denerim. Before we entered the front gate, I pulled Alistair aside. “I’ve been thinking… Do you think that we might be recognized? Surely Loghain might have someone looking for people that match our description?”

“Oh! I didn’t think about that! What should we do?”

I can use a simple disguise spell. It will temporarily make us look like different people.”

“I do not wish to have your spell. I will go in just as I am,” Sten said.

“I suppose that will be all right. I was more worried about Alistair and me, to be honest,” I replied. Sten just gave the barest nod of his head.

So I spoke the incantation. Alistair’s hair turned dark brown and became longer in the back. His eyes turned blue and he now had a goatee. His Grew Warden leather armor became a black rouge armor.

I became a blonde with long curling hair and bright green eyes. I was now wearing a rather frilly noble dress. Alistair was very impressed. He smiled widely and then we walked into the Denerim Market Square.

“By the way, I know you wanted to visit your sister while we were here, but I don’t think we will be able to on this trip.”

Alistair nodded. “I understand. I know we will be coming back here. I am sure an opportunity will present itself.” he gave me a smile. “Thank you for remembering.”

“Of course,” I said and gave his hand a squeeze.

We found Brother Genetivi’s home near the Alienage, I knocked on the door, but to my surprise, it swung open.

“That is usually not a good sign,” Alistair whispered.

Sten stood guard outside while Alistair and I walked into the home. There was a young man standing there. He seemed surprised to see us.

“Hello? Uh, What are you doing here?”

“I am looking for Brother Genetivi? Are you him?”

“No, I am his assistant, Weylon. Why do you need to see him?”

“I had heard about his search for the Urn of Sacred Ashes,” I said.

“He was on the trail of the Sacred Ashes, yes. Whether he found them, The Maker only knows. I haven’t seen Genetivi in weeks. He has sent no word… and that is so unlike him. I am afraid that something may have happened to him.” Weylon sighed. “His research into the Urn may have led him into danger.”

“Why would searching for the Urn lead him into danger?” Alistair wondered out loud.

Weylon heard and answered, “Perhaps the Urn has been lost for a reason. I pray for Genetivi’s safety, but my hope dwindles with each passing day. Some knights from Redcliffe came once; they were looking for him too. I told them what little I knew, and then I heard that they disappeared too!”

“Where did the knights go when they left here?” I asked.

“No, don’t ask me where they went.”

“Why not?”

“Because then you’ll go after them, and what if ill luck should befall you too?” Weylon shook his head. “This search is a curse on all of us! Some things are just not meant to be found. I know this now.”

“We are willing to risk it. Tell me where Genetivi went,” I said.

Weylon sighed again. “So be it. All he said before he left was that he would be staying at an inn near Lake Calenhad… investigating something in that area.”

“What exactly was he investigating?”

“I don’t know,” Weylon replied. “All I know from going through his research was that he was staying at the inn.”

_A-ha!_

Shrewdly, I said, “But you just said that he **told** you he was staying there.”

Now Weylon was clearly nervous. “Y-yes. Of course, he told me that… but I also went through his things to see if I could find other clues to his whereabouts.”

Eyes narrowed, I looked at Weylon sharply. “You sound awfully nervous. Are you hiding something from us?”

“That’s n-not true,” Weylon stammered. “I told you everything I know. Genetivi told us… er, told me about the inn… that’s all.

“Us? Who’s ‘us’?”

“Us? I mean me! There is no us! Arrrgh! Why am I keeping up this charade!” Weylon finally admitted. “Look! I gave you a chance to turn aside and forget you’d ever heard of Genetivi and the Urn… but you persisted! Now it has come to this! Andraste forgive me, I do this in your Name!” He then proceeded to attack us. One hand held a sharp dagger, and his other hand readied a shock spell.

I quickly rolled and dodged the spell, while Alistair backed up and pulled out his sword. Weylon went after Alistair, flinging weak spells and trying to stab with his dagger, but Alistair’s shield blocked his feeble attacks.

I grabbed my staff and quickly cast a freeze spell, halting Weylon. Then my stonefist, combined with a shield attack from Alistair immediately took Weylon down. With him dead, I also let the disguise spell drop. There was no need for it now.

“Well?” Alistair asked as he sheathed his sword. “Now what?”

“Let’s check the rest of the house.” I wasn’t about to give up now. “This Weylon was clearly hiding something. There must be some clues somewhere…”

Alistair nodded and walked into the kitchen of the house, while I checked the bookshelves lining the living area. A few moments later, Alistair walked out from the kitchen with a book in his hand. “What do you make of this?” he asked.

He handed me a book about Dragon Cults. I glanced it. There were several pages marked and passages underlined. “I am not entirely sure. I’ll take it with us and read it on the way back to Redcliffe. Maybe it will tell us something.” I stuffed the tome in my pack. “Let’s keep looking.”

Alistair poked around the entryway of the home, rifling through more books and papers. I headed to the back room, which I assumed must be Genetivi’s bedroom.

First thing I noticed when I opened the door was the stench. There were flies buzzing around something in the corner of the room. “Alistair! Come quickly!” I shouted.

He ran over to me and then he smelled it too. “Someone is dead in here! Maker, I hope it isn’t this Brother Genetivi!”

We carefully walked into the dimly lit room. I summoned my glowing orb for us to see better. Indeed, there was a corpse on the floor… and from the rate of decomposition, it had been there for awhile.

“Maker’s Breath! Do you think that Weylon guy killed whoever this is?” Alistair asked, trying to hold his breath.

“Him, or one of the other people who might be involved in this mess,” I said. “I’m afraid that this Brother has gotten himself into something much bigger than just the search for the Urn.” I sighed. Then I spotted something near the corpse’s hand. “Wait… what’s that?” I leaned in closer.

Because of the shadows, I hadn’t noticed that there was a broken quill in the corpse’s hand and a scrap of paper with some barely legible writing on it. I gently wiggled the paper free. There was a bit of dried blood, and the note was hard to read, but I was able to make out this:

Sorry that I … but … won’t get… research … I die to prot… – W.

“Alistair? I think that this… is the **real** Weylon. The one out there must have been a plant… to try and throw us off the track.”

“But what does it all mean?” he asked.

“It means that Brother Genetivi **did** find the location of Sacred Urn, but there is obviously a group of people that do not want it found.” I looked around. “This note seems to indicate that there is research still here… and that the real Weylon died to protect it. We need to find it, if possible.”

“Agreed,” Alistair said.

We searched for several hours but could find nothing. Finally, getting desperate, I made a last-ditch effort and dug under the mattress of Genetivi’s bed. In the far corner, I felt a book. Fingers closing on it, I took it out - hoping beyond hope that it was what I was searching for.

It was a journal. I flipped through a few pages. “Yes!” I shouted, startling Alistair. “I found Genetivi’s journal!” There was a scrap of paper in the very back. I pulled it out. A handwritten note said:

_The village of Haven in the Frostbacks seems a good place to start…_

“Have you ever heard of a village called ‘Haven’?” I asked.

“Can’t say that I have. But if it’s in the Frostbacks, that will put it west of Redcliffe. Maybe someone back there might know.”

“I’ll also read through the journal on our way back. Perhaps there will be more clues in there.”

Alistair nodded, then sighed. “What do we do with… that?” he pointed to the real Weylon’s corpse. “It doesn’t seem right to just leave it there.”

“I agree,” I said.

“Should we report it to the guards?” he asked.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think that is a good idea. Even if I disguised us again, that could cause a problem. It could delay us here further.”

“You’re right. So then what can we do?”

“I can try something, but it may be a bit risky. I can’t think of any other options though. I am going to concentrate a flame spell and burn Weylon’s body.”

“Is that safe?”

“If you can make sure I am not disturbed, I should be able to do it. First, let’s clear out any loose papers and books away from the corpse…”

We did so, working together. Eventually, the area was clear.

“Maker watch over you, Weylon,” I said quietly. Alistair stood a few meters away, keeping watch. I placed my hands on the corpse, closed my eyes, and muttered the incantation. My hands glowed white hot, and the body began to burn. I gritted my teeth and used all my focus to keep the fire concentrated strictly on the body. Finally, it was done - the body was naught but ash. I slowly stood up, but then almost passed out. Alistair caught me.

“Are you all right?” he asked with concern.

“I… don’t think… I should try that again… any time soon,” I said. Spots dotted my vision. “Take me to… the bed. Need to… rest.”

He nodded and scooped me into his arms, and then lay me gently on Brother Genetivi’s bed. I quickly fell asleep. Alistair looked at me with a worried expression. _She probably shouldn’t have done that_ , he thought. _Really big spells like that drain her more than she admits._ He quietly kissed my forehead.

 

It was morning when I awoke again. I saw Alistair asleep on a couch in the room. He had removed his armor and was lying there wearing a simple pair of linen pants and a long linen shirt. I padded over in my bare feet (I guessed he had removed my boots sometime after I had fallen asleep) and knelt down next to him. His gorgeous lips just beckoned me. I closed my eyes, leaned over, and started kissing him.

I heard him moan quietly and felt his lips move against mine. His hand reached up and cupped the back of my head gently. For a long while, there were no other sounds in the room except for soft moans, sighs, and our lips meeting peacefully. Finally, I slowly pulled away and opened my eyes. His eyes were glowing brightly and he smiled at me, making my heart melt.

“What a wonderful way to wake up,” he murmured. “You are feeling better then?”

“Yes… Thank you for taking care of me. I have never had to use so much power before. I had no idea that it would drain me like that.”

He sat up on the couch and took my hands in his. “Maybe we should have thought of another way to take care of Weylon. Just promise me next time, you will be more careful. I… don’t want to… lose you.”

“You have my word. No more big spells for me.” I turned to look at where Weylon’s body should have been, but the ashes were gone. “W-where are the ashes?”

“I cleaned them up and put them into a nearby vase that was empty. I figured that if we find Brother Genetivi, we can tell him what happened. He would want to probably give his assistant a proper funeral, or burial.”

“Ah, good. Weylon - the **real** Weylon - that is, needs to be honored for his sacrifice.” I sighed. “Speaking of which… What are we going to do about the fake?”

“Already taken care of. Sten and I took the body out very late at night and dumped it in a dark alley deep in the Denerim slums.”

Apparently just speaking his name, brought Sten into the room. “Are you better?” he asked me. I nodded, so he then continued, “Then we should get going now. I do not wish to tarry here any longer.”

I got up from the kneeling position I had been in. “Thank you for your help, Sten.” He grunted. I turned to Alistair. “We have what we need, and we really should get back as soon as we can. Everyone is waiting for us back at Redcliffe.”

I went to the bed and slipped my boots on. Alistair put his armor back on, and I gathered up my pack and staff. I then cast the simple disguise spell on Alistair and me again, so we could get out of Denerim with much fuss.

 

During the trip back to South Reach, where would swap out the horses for our original team, I read through both the Dragon Cult book and Genetivi’s journal. The journal had a lot of general notes about Andraste… about her birth, her family, her marriage to Maferath, her deeds, and her death. There was one disturbing passage I found at the end of the journal. Genetivi believed that a group of people named the Disciples of Andraste (whom long ago had supposedly been the ones to smuggle her ashes into Ferelden) had forgotten their true purpose and now believed that Andraste had been reborn (as what, Genetivi did not say in the journal). He had tracked their location to the town of Haven, and he believed that the temple protecting Her ashes was hidden in the mountains near there. Some notes had been made to the possible location of the town, so now I at least had a better idea of where to start…

The Dragon Cult book was even more disturbing. It stated that desperate people would sometimes turn to the worship of real dragons to replace the Old Gods who had failed them. A dragon, after all, was a god-figure that they could see, and the dragon could offer a degree of protection to its cultists.

Members of a dragon cult would live in the same lair as a High Dragon, nurturing and protecting its defenseless young. In exchange, the dragon seemed to permit those cultists to kill a small number of those young in order to feast on draconic blood. That blood is said to have a number of strange long-term effects, including bestowing greater strength and endurance, as well as an increased desire to kill. It also mentioned that the changes in the cultists appeared to be a form of blood magic.

I closed the book. What I was trying to figure out was how did the symbiotic relationship between the cult and the high dragon form in the first place? How did the cultists know to drink the dragon's blood? How did the High Dragon convince them to care for its young, or know that they would? Was it suggesting that the High Dragon was no mere beast, but actually intelligent? Could it be that a High Dragon had taken up residence in the Frostbacks and had somehow warped the descendants of the Disciples of Andraste? I mentioned these thoughts to Alistair, but he had no further input.

 

When we got to Lothering again, it seemed as though the devastation had gotten worse. Alistair and I also sensed darkspawn. We had the driver stop and let us out. I told him to continue on, and meet us after he had passed Lothering. Sten, Alistair and I had our weapons out and we walked carefully along the road keeping an eye out for the darkspawn.

Nothing. Not a darkspawn to be found. Strange, because I could sense them… then I looked down at the ground.

“They are **below** us!” I whispered.

“There are hundreds of them!” Alistair muttered. “I think we need to get out of here. We would quickly get overwhelmed…”

Sten, however, decided our fate. “I am tired of running from the darkspawn. We need to fight!” He stabbed his sword into the ground and gave a mighty roar.

The earth exploded all around us. Darkspawn by the dozens erupted from below. We were completely surrounded!

“Damn it, Sten! Are you trying to get us killed?!” Alistair yelled.

We all backed up against each other. Sten readied his sword as the darkspawn began to charge us.

“Sgiath dhuinn!” <Shield for us!> I shouted. A large white shield surrounded the three of us. Darkspawn crashed up against the shield, shrieking and clawing against it, trying to get to us.

“Now what?” Alistair asked in a panic.

I turned, looked at him, and whispered, “I love you…” I pressed my lips against his in a hard and fast kiss. Then I quickly broke it off. His eyes registered shock when he realized what I was about to do.

“Kylara, NO!” he tried to shout, but I quickly drowned him out with my chant.

 

Tha mi a 'gairm air na nèamhan!

<I call on the heavens!>

Seall dhuinn do chumhachd!

<Show us your power!>

Bàs air ar nàimhdean!

<Death on our enemies!>

Stoirm teine!

<Fire storm!>

 

I raised my staff high in the air. A huge beam of light shot up to the sky. Within seconds the sky turned an angry red and fire began to fall as rain. Everywhere it struck around us, the darkspawn were instantly incinerated. I screamed as I held the spell until there was nothing left. All the darkspawn were dead. The shield spell flickered and then disappeared.

“Alistair…” I barely managed to whisper before I collapsed to the ground.

 

 

When I came to, I was back at Redcliffe castle in my bed wearing a long nightshirt. Wynne was sitting next to me, her hand on my forehead. A warm glow surrounded me. Finally, she noticed that I was awake.

“Well now, back with us at last,” she said lightly. Then in a more firm tone, “That was quite foolish of you! I hope you realize you could have died!”

“I had to do something Wynne! Sten had…”

“I know all about what happened. Sten has already had quite the tongue-lashing from me as well! What he did was monumentally stupid! But you… You were lucky that your staff took the brunt of the backlash from your spell. That is what saved you from death!”

“My… staff?” I asked as I sat up. Wynne pointed to the corner of the room where what remained of my staff lay. It was a burnt husk now. I closed my eyes and sighed.

“I… couldn’t think of any other way to…” I mumbled.

“How about a teleportation spell? Or invisibility? I could probably think of another half-dozen spells you could have used!”

Just then the door to the room burst open and Alistair stormed in. I had never seen him angry before. This couldn’t be good.

“Wynne, thank you for healing her, but I need you to leave the two of us alone for a bit please,” he said vehemently. She nodded and left, closing the door behind her.

Alistair leaned up against the closed door for a few moments. He was looking a bit haggard as if he hadn’t slept in days. Stubble covered his normally clean-shaved face and his eyes were bloodshot. He wasn’t wearing his usual armor, but rather a pair of leather pants and a loose smock-like shirt. He was also barefoot. As he glared at me, I had to admit this was a side of Alistair that I didn’t want to see often - if ever again.

He finally walked over to where I was sitting on the edge of the bed, my feet dangling off the side, and gripped my shoulders hard.

“Alistair, that hurts…” I started to say, but he shook me. I stopped talking.

“WHY?!” He wasn’t quite yelling, but it was close. Slightly quieter, but no less angry, “You **bloody**  promised me! You said you would never do that again!

Now I was starting to get a little angry myself. “What?! Would you rather have been overwhelmed and killed by darkspawn?! I did what I had to…”

A slap landed on my cheek! I sat there in stunned shock. I touched my burning face.

“Do NOT give me that pathetic excuse! You think I didn’t talk to Wynne myself? Or even Morrigan? Even Irving is angry at your STUPID behavior! Your shield spell would have held long enough to come up with another solution! But no! You just barged right ahead and almost killed yourself! Again!!”

I started pummeling my fists against him. “At least I tried to DO something!”

“The WRONG thing! I thought you were smarter than that!”

“You did not just say that!” I tried to hit him again, but he caught my wrists and pinned them down, pushing me back down on the bed. “W-what are you doing?!” I said struggling in his grasp.

“Somehow… I will make you understand…” He pressed his lips against mine in a fierce, heated kiss.

At first, I struggled, but despite the anger in his kiss, there was passion there as well. I couldn’t help it… I moaned. My mouth opened slightly, and I began kissing him back as fiercely as he was kissing me. He let go of my wrists. My arms wrapped around Alistair, pulling him closer. I could feel him growing hard beneath me, increasing my desire for him even more.

He pressed his erection against me and oh, Maker, did it feel good! I moaned louder between kisses. He slowly began moving his hips, thrusting against me, still kissing. As he began to move faster, I really wanted to be rid of the clothes he and I were both wearing.

I wasn’t really sure what had brought this on, but Maker forbid he stop! I broke away from the kiss, my head thrashing side to side, “A-Alistair! Ah… more! Please!”

He put his hand against my mouth to keep me quiet and thrust even harder. It was a good thing his hand was there because I began to scream as I came. I suddenly felt him shuddering, not seeming to care that he was spilling his seed while still clothed. He then collapsed on top of me. There I lay, half on and half off the bed, panting from an amazing orgasm. Alistair was not moving, his face was buried against my neck, so I couldn’t see his expression… but then I felt it. His breath hitched and he started sobbing against me.

I whispered his name. “Alistair? What? Why are you…” He raised his fist and began hitting the bed.

Muffled, as he was still against my neck, I heard him sob again. He finally raised his face to me, his tears breaking my heart. “You still don’t get it… do you?” he said hoarsely. “I **can’t**  lose you! Not when I have already lost so much!” He said nothing more as he slowly got up. Head hanging, he turned and walked out of my room. The door was closed softly behind him.

Now I started crying. I had always prided myself on being smart; being able to solve puzzles and work spells that had stumped most other mages. I looked at the burnt out husk of my staff and finally realized I had been stupid… royally stupid. Wynne had been right, I should have actually tried to think my way out of the situation we had been in, instead of trying to show off. I had also taken my relationship with Alistair for granted. I **had** promised him after what had happened in Denerim that I would not risk my life again. Somehow, I would need to not only apologize but make him believe that I truly would not act before thinking anymore.

I went to the dresser and poured some water from the pitcher into the small basin, then I took a rag and cleaned myself up. I put on a simple dress and combed out my hair. Then I slipped on a pair of shoes. I walked down to where Alistair’s guest room was.

I knocked, but there was no answer. Not wanting to intrude, I sighed and left. I ended up wandering around the castle. It was quiet. I found myself in the arl’s study. I sat behind his massive desk and flipped through some of the books. Finding nothing interesting, I was about to leave when I spotted a partially open drawer… and something was glinting in the light. I looked around me. Seeing no one around, I opened the drawer.

Inside was a silver chain with a hardened clay amulet attached. I picked it up carefully and saw that it had an unusual design on it, and on the front was the holy symbol of Andraste. Then it dawned on me. The odd design I had noticed wasn’t a design at all. They were cracks - showing that someone had painstakingly taken the time to fix this amulet. Hadn’t Alistair told me that he used to have an amulet that belonged to his mother and that he had shattered it when he found out the arl was sending him away? Could this be the same amulet? Had Arl Eamon fixed it for Alistair? I slipped it into my pocket and left the study.

I walked back towards Alistair’s room. Again, I knocked. Still no answer. But there was now a fire burning in the fireplace. I could see the light from under the door. I saw a shadow move in front of it, and then it stopped.

I carefully opened the door, just a small amount. “Alistair? It’s me. May I please come in?” There was no response. I opened the door just a bit more until I saw him sitting in front of the fire. “Alistair?”

Still no response from him, but I saw his shoulders slump. I sighed. “Do you want me to leave?” I asked quietly.

Finally, he spoke in a bare whisper, “No.”

I closed the door behind me. Then I walked up to the fireplace and sat down near him, but not too close. I saw his hair was still damp, his face had been shaved again, and he was wearing clean clothes. He must have just taken a bath.

I sat next to him in silence, but he still refused to look at me.

“Alistair? Why won’t you look at me?”

Silence. Perhaps he really didn’t want me here after all. I started to try and get up.

“Don’t…” he said softly.

I sat back down again. I looked at him and saw he was shaking slightly. “Please?” I gently reached over and put my hand on his shoulder. “Talk to me?”

“I-I am so… ashamed…” he eventually said as he pulled away from me. “I wanted to… make you see… make you understand. But the way I did it…”

“Alistair,” I murmured, “it is all right.”

He turned sharply and stared me in the face. “No! It was not! I… I hit you! I forced myself on you! I was not raised to act in that way to women!” He heaved a sigh. “I wanted to show you how much you mean to me… But I was just so **furious** that you nearly threw your life away… and I just can’t lose someone else that I care about!”

“Alistair… I-I’m sorry! I panicked! I didn’t want to lose you either!”

“If you didn’t want to lose me, then why cast such a spell? Knowing what it would cost you?”

“You are right. I knew what the consequences would be. I really should have tried to think it through, like Wynne had said. I had promised you that I wouldn’t cast another big spell like that, and then I broke that promise. You had every right to be angry at me.”

“I was angry, yes, but that does not justify me striking you and rutting over you like some mindless beast!” He turned away and stared at the fire again. “I wanted our first time… in that way… to be… special.” He closed his eyes and his head drooped. “Instead I've ruined it.”

“Alistair, you didn’t ruin anything,” I said gently. “Anytime I spend with you is special.” I put my fingers under his chin to lift his face up so that he could look at me. “Besides, I liked it… what you did.” A blush tinged my face. “It felt really good.”

“But… I did that in anger. Not love.”

“You may think that, but no… there was still love there. In a way, you were showing me how much you do care for me.” He started to shake his head, but I stopped him. “Do not feel like you did anything wrong. If I hadn’t wanted it, you know I could have stopped you.”

He seemed to think about that. “Yes, I guess you could have.” He paused again. “Y-you… truly enjoyed it?”

I smiled. “Oh, yes. What it made me realize, is that when you decide you want me, in that way fully, it will be amazing. I know it.”

I saw his face flush red. He was probably picturing it in his mind.

“Alistair, I want you to know that I truly do understand why you did what you did… and I am not upset about it.” I took a deep breath. “I need to also let you know that I will never, ever again, cast another spell like that. I will use my wits and think my way through any further dangerous situations we may find ourselves in. I never want to hurt you like I did. I love you too much to do that to you again.” I leaned forward and kissed him softly. Then I leaned back, and slowly stood up. “Will you be all right now?”

He nodded. “I… have a lot to think on. Goodnight, Kylara. I will see you in the morning.”

I quietly left him sitting by the fireplace and made my way back to my own room.

 

When I opened my door, I was surprised to see Morrigan standing there holding her mother’s spellbook. She looked troubled.

“Morrigan? What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I have finished studying Mother’s grimoire. I need to tell you what I found.”

“What did you find?”

“’Tis… not what I expected. I had hoped for a collection of her spells, a map of the power that she commands. But this was not it.” She sighed. “There was one thing in particular within her writings disturbed me.” She brought out the tome and showed me a passage that she had translated. “Here, in great detail, Flemeth explains the means by which she has survived for centuries.”

“Is it a spell of immortality?”

She shook her head. “Oh, if only ‘twas so. Flemeth has raised many daughters over her long lifetime. There are stories of these many Witches of the Wilds throughout Chasind legend. Yet I have never seen a one and always wondered why not. Now I know! They are all Flemeth! When her body becomes old and wizened, she raises a daughter, and when the time is right, she takes her daughter’s body for her own!”

“She was raising you, just so she could take over your body? Why would she then risk sending you with me?”

“I do not know. Perhaps ‘tis as she said, the darkspawn threaten her as much as they would threaten anyone else. Or perhaps she believes that my journeying with you will make me more powerful. According to the tome, if the… host… is already powerful and trained in magic, it takes far less time for Flemeth to… settle in.”

I shuddered at that thought. “So what do we do now?”

“Well, I for one will not sit about like an empty sack waiting to be filled. Mot – I mean, Flemeth needs to be slain. I will need your help to do it though.”

“Kill… Flemeth? You want **me** to kill her?”

“I know you are powerful enough to do it… as long as you don’t do another one of those foolish spells that nearly killed you a few days ago.”

I turned red. Nobody was going to let me live that down, but I supposed they were right. “Why can’t you come and help me?”

“If I am present when she is slain, I cannot be certain that she will not be able to possess my body right there and then. I must remain hidden.”

“But, how am I going to get this done? I can’t just go back down to her hut! That would take days that we can’t spare now. We need to find this town of ‘Haven’ and possibly the Sacred Ashes.” I said.

“I am not putting a time limit on this, but it must be done soon. Otherwise, I won’t be able to help you any further. I would be constantly looking over my shoulder, wondering when she might come for me.”

“But, she is still your mother…”

“Do not think of her as a mother anymore. Think of her, instead, as an ancient abomination that intends to use her own flesh and blood to extend her life beyond all natural limits. I know her well enough to be confident that she would show no mercy when it comes to her own survival. I must do the same!” She sighed. “Besides, I doubt she will truly be dead even if you do kill her. At best, however, it would take her years to find a new host and recover her power…”

“I think I understand.”

Morrigan nodded, and then said, “There is something else I would need as well…”

“Aren’t you already asking a lot of me right now?” I said, a bit testily.

“Perhaps, but once she is dead, I will need you to find her true grimoire.”

“You think it is in her hut?”

“I am not sure, but I hope so,” she replied.

“Very well.” I sighed. “If I can find the time, I will confront your mot – I mean… Flemeth, and find her spellbook for you.”

“Thank you. This means a lot to me.”

 

After Morrigan left, I went to my bed to settle in for sleep. No sooner than I closed my eyes, I felt a presence. Then I heard someone whisper…

 _Kylara…_ _Come to me…_

I sat up in my bed. No one was in my room. Shrugging my shoulders, I was about to lay back down when I heard it again.

_Come to me… now…_

I got out of bed and put on a warm dressing gown and slipped on a pair of shoes.

_That’s it… come to me._

I wasn’t sure why, but the voice sounded familiar. I left my guest room and walked down the hall. It seemed that the presence was outside, so I quietly left the castle. Strangely, I didn’t come across a single guard asking me where I was going. I started to make my way across the bridge. Ahead, there was a large cloud of… smoke? It dissipated and to my shock, Flemeth stood in front of me.

I thought of my broken staff. _If she decides to attack me, I have no way to defend myself. I am so screwed._

“And what makes you think I came here to attack you?” Flemeth asked.

“You are a mind reader?”

“What if I am? Does that make you feel any better?” she smirked.

“I suppose not. Why are you here then?” I asked.

“I am aware that you found my black grimoire in the Circle Tower, and that Morrigan has now read it and knows my plans for her. I also know that she gave you the not so trivial task of killing me. Me?” She laughed. “Powerful though you may be… you would not stand a chance. Especially without any weapon to even fight me with.”

“So what do you want then?”

“You say you are smart, so I propose a battle of wits. We will ask each other riddles until one of us gives up **6**. If you think you can outwit me, I will give you the grimoire that Morrigan wants so badly, and I will leave her alone… for now.”

“For now? What is that supposed to mean?”

She chuckled. “I will leave. Perhaps I will surprise her one day. Or I may just simply watch. It might be interesting to see what she does with her freedom. Enlightening even.” She then gave me a cruel smile. “If I win, Morrigan gives herself to me… tonight.”

“And if I refuse this game of yours? What then?”

“I kill you… which would utterly devastate your fellow Warden, I am sure, as well as the rest of your little group.”

“But I thought you wanted us to stop the Blight? If I am dead, how would I do that?”

“There are other Grey Wardens who would eventually do that job. Would Ferelden die? Most likely. But I will still survive, as I always do, and that is what counts in the end.”

I sighed. I didn’t want to lose Morrigan, but I also couldn’t let the land be destroyed by the darkspawn. “Very well. I will play your little ‘game’. I assume you will go first?”

“Of course,” Her eyes narrowed and she asked, “My first is a creature whose breeding is unclear. My second, a price you must pay. My whole can be found in the river of time and refers to events of today. What am I?”

I had to think. _Creature whose breeding is unclear… Mutt? No… Cur! That was it. A price you must pay…_ _Money… Rent! River of time… referring to events of…_ “I have it! The answer is Cur Rent. Current!”

“Very good. All right then, your turn.” Flemeth said.

“Runs over fields and woods all day Under the bed at night sits not alone, With long tongue hanging out, Awaiting for a bone. What am I?”

“If that is the best you can do, you will lose. The answer is ‘A Shoe.’” She thought for a moment. “In yon vast field of cultivated space, I there am found with members of my race; Decapitate me - if you've no objection - You then will find what brings me to perfection; Take one more cut, and then you'll plainly see what I am destined, day by day, to be.”

 _This is a multi-layered riddle. Irving used to give me these to solve._ _S_ _o, something from a field that you cut, and cut by one letter… then another cut…_ “I have your answer, Flemeth. It is – Wheat, Heat, Eat.”

“You are smarter than you first appear. Go on then. Your next riddle please.”

“Flat as a leaf, round as a ring; Has two eyes, can't see a thing.”

She shook her head. “Pathetic. Morrigan could do better than that. The answer is ‘A Button.’ My turn. What does man love more than life? Fear more than death or mortal strife? What the poor have, the rich require, and what contented men desire. What the miser spends and the spendthrift saves and all men carry to their graves?”

 _Oh, damn. She might have me on this one._ I thought long and hard… but could think of nothing. Then it dawned on me. That **was** the answer! I looked her in the eyes. “Nothing. That is the answer.”

She scowled at me. Perhaps she too thought she had had me with that one. “Fine. Ask your last one.”

“Last one? I thought you said we would keep going.” I said.

“I have changed my mind. Pray I do not change it further.”

“All right.” _Have to come up with something good._ Then I smiled. “If you break me, I do not stop working. If you touch me, I may be snared. If you lose me, nothing will matter.”

Flemeth’s brow furrowed. Her mouth opened, then closed. After several minutes, I finally said. “You don’t know, do you?”

She looked at me with hatred. “Fine. You have me. What is the answer?”

“Something that is clear that you don’t have, and haven’t had for a long, long time. Heart.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Now a deal is a deal. You give me your grimoire, and you leave Morrigan alone. Not just for a while. Forever. She doesn’t need you. She has us now.”

Flemeth disappeared back into smoke. Out of it, a heavy tome fell to the ground. The Grimoire. The smoke rose into the air and grew larger. Then it cleared and in its place was a dragon. Flemeth was a dragon!

 _You have won, for now,_ her voice spoke in my mind. _But I am ancient and I have nothing but time. I will eventually get what is mine. Have no mistake in that!_ She flapped her mighty wings and flew off into the night.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6 Riddles borrowed from these sites: https://plentifun.com/hardest-riddle-ever & https://www.riddles.com/


	16. The Search for the Sacred Ashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The quest to find the Urn begins. Once Kylara and her friends arrive in the small hamlet of Haven, they realize that the town holds a dark secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art of Alistair and his mother's amulet politely borrowed with permission by the amazing AllenVoorEef (http://allenvooreef.tumblr.com)

I was sitting at the breakfast table, blissfully enjoying a steaming cup of kajifa and a very tasty breakfast. The arlessa had been able to get back some of her staff, including Valena. She had apparently hired a few others in the time it had taken for Alistair and me to go to Denerim and back. We were all getting a bit spoiled from their care.

My mind was replaying all that had happened with Flemeth the night before. How was I to explain to Morrigan about getting Flemeth’s grimoire without having traveled all the way to the Wilds and back? Would she believe she was safe from her mother’s attempt at possession since I hadn’t killed Flemeth? I knew I’d have to talk to her before we left for Haven today.

Just then, Alistair walked in and sat next to me. “Good morning, Alistair,” I said politely.

He looked like he hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, but he still gave me a small smile and repeated, “Good morning.” He yawned as one of the servants brought him a platter of food and some kafija as well.

I offered Alistair some milk and sweetener for his beverage but he shook his head. “Prefer it plain, thanks,” he said quietly and took a sip of the hot drink. “Ah, that is better. I wonder if there is any way we could take this to make when we travel. It really is an eye-opener.” He then tucked into his sausages and eggs.

It did seem he was feeling a little bit more like his old self, so I asked, “Do you have your stuff packed and ready for our journey to Haven today?”

He paused, a piece of sausage speared and halfway to his mouth. “Ah. Well… Thing is… I won’t be going with you to Haven,” he said.

I had not heard this news. When had this been decided? Surprised, I asked, “Why not?”

“I want to stay here. With Eamon. He wasn’t my father, but he was the closest thing I had for ten years of my life. If something were to happen and I wasn’t here…” He sighed and then put the bite of sausage in his mouth. After he finished chewing and swallowing, he then said, “Isolde has been nicer to me now that I have told her who my real father was. Honestly, I don’t think Eamon ever told her the whole story.”

It was then that I remembered the locket I had found in the arl’s study last night. I got up from the table and said, “I’ll be right back, Alistair.” Then I ran to my guest room.

Curious, he watched me leave, then ate some more of his breakfast. By the time I returned, he was finishing off his kafija.

I sat back down. “I found this last night… before we had our talk in your room.” I then handed him the amulet.

His eyes widened in shock when he realized what he held. “This… this is my mother’s amulet. It has to be. But it’s not broken. Where did you find this?”

So I confessed my night walk, and how I was in the arl’s study when I noticed the partially opened drawer. “I hope you don’t mind that I took it from there,” I said.

“He must have found it after I had thrown it at the wall… and then he repaired it… and kept it? Why would he do that?”

“Perhaps you mean more to him than you realize,” I replied softly.

Alistair slipped the silver chain over his head and then gently stroked the glazed clay amulet. “I guess you could be right. We never really talked that much after the way I left.” He looked at me with unshed tears. “Thank you, I mean it. I thought I had lost this to my own stupidity. I will need to talk to him about this… if he, no… **when** he recovers from this. Now I know I am doing the right thing by staying here.”

I nodded, but it made me sad. I had really come to depend on Alistair being there. This trip to Haven was now going to be very lonely, despite my other companions traveling with me. “I need to finish getting ready and… packing,” I got up from the table.

“You haven’t finished your breakfast,” Alistair said.

“Give it to Winston,” I mumbled and slowly walked away.

After I shut the door to my room, the tears started. I knew how important Arl Eamon was to Alistair, but I thought I was important to him as well. There was a part of me that wondered if he was still slightly angry, even after our talk, and that was his true reason for not coming. I packed my remaining belongings and put on my robe. I still didn’t have a staff, so I thought maybe I should check with Bodahn. Perhaps he had something I could buy.

Before I left to find him, I grabbed Flemeth's grimoire off my dresser and walked over to Morrigan's room. I knocked.

“’Tis open. Come in,” she said.

I opened the door to the small room. “Morrigan? I need to tell you something…” I handed her the book.

“But… ‘tis my Moth – I mean Flemeth’s **real** grimoire!” she breathed. “How did you get this? You haven’t… Is she?”

“She was here, Morrigan. Last night.”

Morrigan swallowed. “Flemeth was here? At the castle?”

I nodded. “She called me in my mind; had me come outside to the bridge. She knew that I had found the black grimoire and that you knew her plans for you.” I looked down at the floor and then said, “She also knew that you had told me to kill her.”

“But… you didn’t?”

I looked back up at her. “How could I? I had no weapon and she knew it. She told me I’d stand no chance against her… I believed it.”

“How did you get the book from her then? I can’t imagine she gave it willingly to you.”

“She challenged me to a game of wits, riddles,” I said. “If I won, she was going to give me the book.” I gestured at it, then continued. “She also said she would leave you alone for a time. She wanted to see what you might do after. But if I lost… she was planning to take you right then and there.”

“Well, you obviously won, as you have the book.” Her eyes narrowed for a moment. “Yet you were willing to risk my very life on it? Without asking?”

“How was I to ask you? She had me! It’s not she was going to let me come back into the castle and say, ‘Hey Morrigan, do you mind if I risk your life on a game against your mother?’”

She exhaled a breath. “No, I suppose she wouldn’t. But Flemeth is old and clever. How did you manage to beat her at this… game?”

“I asked her a question that she couldn’t answer.” I then told the riddle to Morrigan and the answer. She burst out in laughter.

“She probably didn’t like that! Accusing her of having no heart!” She paused. “But I suppose ‘tis true. Whatever demon she made a deal with must have taken her heart long ago… For her to do what she has been doing to her other daughters; what she would have done… to me.” Morrigan’s eyes glistened. “But am I truly safe now?”

“One of the other conditions I gave her after I won, was that she was to leave you alone, forever. You have us. You have me as a friend. You don’t need Flemeth anymore.”

“You did that… for me?” She swiped at her eyes quickly. “I… Thank you.” She turned away from me and said softly, “Of all the things I could have imagined when Flemeth told me to travel with you… Because of my… personality; my tendency to drive others away from me… The very last thing I thought that I would end up with was a true friend. No… a sister.” I heard her sniff. _Was she crying?_ She sighed and then quietly asked, “Would you… leave me alone? For a while?”

I put my hand on her back gently and said, “I’ll just be getting everything organized. I’ll see you later.” She nodded and I left her to her thoughts.

 

I couldn’t find Bodahn anywhere in the castle. After asking around, one servant told me he was down in the village. So I left the castle and headed across the bridge and down the trail. Once in the village, I found out the Bodahn and Sandal were in the village store. I walked in. It looked like they were cleaning and organizing stuff.

“Well, look here Sandal! It’s our friend, the Warden!”

“Hello,” Sandal waved at me cheerily.

“Bodahn, what are you doing here?” I asked.

“Well, we heard from the mayor fella that the original owner of this store was one of them that was taken by the monsters when Redcliffe was under attack. With no merchant in town, that Murdock told me and Sandal that we could set up shop here! Very generous of him!”

“So you are going to stay here?” I asked.

“Sure! Still plenty o’ people here, needed supplies and stuff… and me and Sandal here are not really the adventurous type. So we’re gonna settle down here!”

“That’s great! I am happy for you both!”

“So miss, can we get you anything? Or did you simply want to talk?” Bodahn smiled.

“Actually, there is something I hope you can help me with. I figure you must have heard about what happened to my staff?”

“Ah, yes. We did, at that. Seems your friends were none too happy about it either.”

I sighed. “No, they weren’t.”

“So, you need a new staff then?” Bodahn went into the back storage area. From in the back, I heard him mutter, “I know I saw it here somewhere. Ah-ha! Found it!” He came back out front holding a beautifully carved staff, embellished with leaves and vines. “We picked this up about a year ago… do you remember where Sandal?” Sandal shook his head. Bodahn shrugged. “Nah, it doesn’t matter… I think someone told me once they call this staff 'Sylvan's Mercy'. Anyways, I can sell it to you for about nine sovereigns… How’s that sound?”

I took the staff from him and felt it. This was a very old and powerful staff. I knew I would take very good care of it. “It’s a deal,” I told him and took the money out of my coin purse. “Thank you so much!”

“Not a problem miss! We’ll be here anytime you need us. Have a safe journey!”

“Bye-bye!” Sandal shouted.

 

I left the store. It was good that they had found a place to stay and do business. I walked back up to the castle. After gathering up the rest of the gear, everyone met in the audience chamber. Teagan, Isolde, Connor, and Alistair were all gathered around us. Everyone was there… except for Morrigan. Finally, she walked into the room, holding the grimoire. She beckoned me aside.

“Yes, Morrigan? What do you need?”

“I… will not be going with you to Haven,” she said.

“But Flemeth said she would have you alone.”

“It isn’t that. One, I really don’t feel comfortable with this journey. You already well know my feelings on your… religion, and two, I would like to take the time to really study this grimoire. I have already located several spells that may come in useful to you in the future.”

I sighed. “I understand, Morrigan.”

“Thank you. I will await your return.” She then headed back to her room.

Teagan then beckoned me over to a nearby table that held a map. I went up to him.

“From what you have been able to determine from the Brother’s journal, it seems that you will head northwest and then west around Lake Calenhad,” he said, pointing at the road that went around the lake. “After about a day, maybe a day-and-a-half, you should find a small river leading due west. I am guessing if you follow that river, it should get you close to where this ‘Haven’ is.”

“Thank you, Teagan, and thank you for the horses to help us get there. It should make the journey a little faster.”

“I am not so sure I want to ride on one of your Ferelden horses. Our asaarash breed are much stronger and can carry us with ease. Your breed of horse looks weak by comparison,” Sten muttered.

“I think we have one that should suit you just fine, Sten,” Teagan replied.

As the discussion decided to move on to horses, I walked over to Alistair to have a quiet moment with him.

“I see you have a new staff,” he said as I approached.

“Yes. Bodahn had one in his new shop.”

“I am glad the two of them seem to be happy here. They should be safe now that we have driven off the monsters and the demon in Connor.”

I nodded and then looked at the ground. “Alistair…” I sighed, trying to not cry. “Is there any way I could convince you to come with me?”

He pulled me into his warm embrace and held me. My head rested against his chest and I could hear the steady thumping of his heart. I couldn’t hold back any longer. Tears flowed from my eyes.

“I am sorry, Kylara,” he whispered. “I need to stay here. Not only for the sake of the arl, but I do need time to think… about us.”

My tears soaked his shirt. “I don’t want to leave you.”

He tilted my head up to look at his face. “But you must, Kylara. The Urn is our only hope at this point. You must find it… and if anyone can, I know it will be you.” He gently kissed my eyes, and then my lips. “Believe me, this is just as hard on me as it is you,” he murmured. “Come now, dry your tears for me, and put on a brave face for everyone. I will be here when you return.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat down and swiped my hand against my face. He walked with me back to the rest of the group, who were waiting patiently. I took a deep breath to calm myself, then said, “Are we ready, then?”

Everyone nodded. Winston barked at me, as if to get my attention. I knelt down to face him.

“You are wanting to stay here too, boy?” He nudged me with his big head and whined a little. “I understand. Don’t worry about it.” Then I leaned close to his ear and whispered, “Take care of Alistair for me, will you?” Winston’s big sloppy tongue gave me kisses on my face and hands. I chuckled. “All right, boy… all right. I get it. I’ll miss you too. Thank you.” He barked as I stood up. I grabbed a rag out of my pocket and wiped down my face. Alistair was trying not to laugh. I gave him a smile back.

“All right,” I said as I stuffed the rag back into my pocket. “Let’s get going.”

 

Once we got down to the main village, everyone (including Bodahn and Sandal) came to see us off. All of them were wishing us luck in finding the Urn of Sacred Ashes. Teagan had been right about finding a horse for Sten’s large build. While the rest of our horses were about 14 ½ hands high, the stallion for Sten was at least 17 hands. He was a massive beast, yet didn’t have the fiery temper of most big stallions. Sten was impressed. So he and I, along with Wynne, Leliana, Zevran, all mounted up. Thankfully all of our horses were gentle and easy to control, as neither Wynne or I had ridden before. Teagan had given us a few basics, and Zevran said he would be willing to help us further if we needed it.

As Teagan had instructed, Wynne and I gently nudged our mares flanks and got them moving. Wynne was not as comfortable sitting astride the horse as I was, but she managed. I spared one last backward glance at Alistair. As he waved goodbye to me, I had to turn and face forward, lest I started crying again.

The road did head northwest for a short distance after we left Redcliffe, just as Teagan had said. Late afternoon, the road then turned due west. We were still following the coast of Lake Calenhad. By sunset, the road had turned north again and we found a creek that was trickling under a bridge and into the lake. We tethered up the horses and set up camp.

I stood on the bridge and looked westward at the creek that flowed down into the Calenhad. There was a worn dirt path next to the creek, heading west up the mountain.

“Leliana?” She came over to where I was standing. “Do you think this might be what we are looking for? There is a trail leading up the mountain, but I was expecting a bigger river.”

“I don’t know. But we are in the right place according to Teagan’s map. Perhaps this creek becomes larger upstream?”

“Well, I guess tomorrow we head west up that trail and find out,” I said.

 

During the night, I had another darkspawn induced nightmare. I woke up with a jerk, covered in cold sweat. I sat up and curled myself into a ball, my hands clenched tight around my knees. Without Alistair nearby to bring me comfort, I sat there rocking and sobbing on my bedroll. Leliana, who had been keeping watch came up to me.

“Kylara? Are you alright? Was it a nightmare?” When she saw I wasn’t calming down, she sat on my right and held me tightly, humming a soft tune. Zevran and Wynne both work up.

“What is going on?” Zevran asked sleepily.

“Kylara must have had another darkspawn nightmare. I think… Zev, wake Sten too, and would you both come over and help?”

Zevran did as he was asked. Sten was not happy at being woken until Zevran explained what had happened. Sten looked at me with a small amount of sympathy.

Zevran then knelt behind me and Wynne sat on my left. Both of them also put their arms around me. Leliana continued to hum, while Zevran whispered, “Shh…” in my ear. Wynne held my hand. Slowly, with all of them pressing against me gently, I began to calm down. Finally, I took a shuddering breath.

“Are you all right now, dear?” Wynne asked.

“I-I think so… for now,” I said softly. “Thank you. All of you.” Leliana and Wynne both got up, but Zevran was still holding on tight. “Ah, Zev? You can… let go now.”

He did so and chuckled. “What can I say? You don’t give me much opportunity to touch you, so when given that chance…” He came around and knelt in front of me and gave me his bright smile, took my hand and kissed it. “Goodnight, my dear Warden. No more bad dreams.” Then he got up and went back to his bedroll.

Sten was still looking at me, then glanced down. “I am sorry, kadan. I have not yet had my chance to apologize for what I did in Lothering. I thought you and he were deliberately not wanting to fight the darkspawn. I did not realize there were so many. When you fell…”

“It is all right Sten. I had made a bad decision myself and almost paid the price for it. I guess we both learned a lesson.”

“Indeed.” He then lay back down. “Goodnight, kadan.”

I didn’t know what ‘kadan’ meant, but I was guessing it was something nice.

Wynne also went to lay down. “Remember, Kylara. We are here for you.”

Leliana stayed with me and after it seemed like everyone had gone back to sleep, she finally spoke. “You and Alistair are quite close. Why did he not come with us?” When she saw the look on my face she quickly said, “I am sorry if I am prying, but I was just a bit curious about him not being by your side. You two have almost been inseparable since I joined your quest.”

I didn’t want to go into details about what had happened between Alistair and me after my near-death experience, so instead, I said, “Arl Eamon raised Alistair after his mother died… so he wanted to stay with him… in case something were to happen while we are searching for the Urn.”

Leliana just nodded. I don’t know if she fully believed my half-truth. So I quickly said, “Thank you again, for looking after me. Those darkspawn nightmares are… horrible. I’ll go ahead an take watch duty now. You get some sleep. We should head out at dawn.”

She nodded again and then went to lay down on her bedroll. “Goodnight, Kylara.”

 

Shortly after the sun came up, we mounted up and started up the small trail, following the creek upstream. As we moved up higher into the mountains, the creek did indeed become wider and more river-like. It was a pleasant day. The water was bubbling over the rocks, the wind soughing through the leaves, and the birds were chirping sweet tunes. The trail continued ever higher. The creek was now a fast flowing river, forming rapids and small waterfalls over large rocks.

After a few hours, the dirt trail we were on abruptly ended. I thought perhaps we had gone the wrong way and I was about to tell everyone that we needed to turn around when I spotted a very small footpath going still further up. It had been hidden by some bushes. I dismounted and my eyes looked up. Perhaps Haven was up there? I told Sten to stay here with the horses while the rest of us investigated. We walked up the rocky path for several minutes. Eventually, I saw a guard standing next to a low rock wall.

He saw us and his eyes widened in surprise. “What are you doing here?” he barked at us. “There is nothing for you here!”

“Is this Haven?” I asked.

“So what if it is? You don’t belong here.”

“Is that how you greet guests to your village?” I asked angrily.

“We don’t appreciate lowlanders poking around… looking at us as though we were some kind of zoo,” he growled.

Wynne put a hand on my arm. I sighed. “I came here seeking the Urn of Sacred Ashes,” I said, a bit more politely.

“The Urn is nothing but a legend.”

“Brother Genetivi’s research suggests that it may be more than that.”

“I do not know who this ‘Brother Genetivi’ is, or what he says. People can convince themselves of almost anything,” the guard replied.

“You don’t know if Brother Genetivi came here?” I asked.

“No.” He shrugged. “Perhaps Revered Father Eirik will know of whom you speak. Unfortunately, he is ministering at this moment, and cannot be disturbed.”

“Revered Father?” Leliana was surprised. “I have never heard of this.”

“It has always been thus in Haven. We do not question tradition.”

“Are your traditions very different from ours?” I asked.

The guard sneered. “Our ways are not the ways of the lowland cities. Why do you care?”

“Do you mind if I ask a few more questions?” I asked him.

He grunted. “Make it quick then.”

“Why have I never heard of this village before?”

“We keep to ourselves,” he simply said. “We’ve seen no need to announce our presence to the world. Keeps things more peaceful that way.”

“How long has Haven been here?”

He sighed. “Haven has always been here. My family knows no other home.”

“Is there somewhere we can shop and trade?” I asked.

“Yes, we have a shop in town. After you are done there, I suggest you return from whence you came. Haven is not for you.”

“May we keep our horses in your stable over there?” I pointed to a ramshackle stable on my right.

“Whatever,” he grunted again. “Just make your visit quick, and leave.”

After we left the guard, I hollered down at Sten to bring the horses up. He did so, and we led them into the stalls and tied them up. There was hay and water available for them. We then left to explore for a bit.

“I suggest we tread carefully. Something isn’t quite right here,” Wynne murmured.

The town was eerily quiet. There was no hustle and bustle of villagers going out and about, no shopkeepers outdoors selling any goods, no neighbors chatting about their day. Eventually, I saw a lone child standing in front of a house reciting a strange rhyme. I stopped to listen.

 

“Come, come, bonny Lynne; tell us, tell us where you’ve been.

Were you up, were you down,

Chasing rabbits ‘round the town.

Come, come, bonny Lynne; tell us, tell us where you’ve been.

 

Come, come, bonny Lynne; we’ve a bed to put you in.

It is soft, it is warm,

It will shelter from the storm.

Come, come, bonny Lynne; we’ve a bed to put you in.

 

Dear, dear bonny Lynne sleeps the peaceful crib within.

A mossy stone, a finger bone.

No one knows but Lynne alone.

Dear, dear bonny Lynne sleeps the peaceful crib within…”

 

I finally approached the child. He looked up at us. “Who are you? You shouldn’t be here.”

“Who are you, little boy?” I asked gently.

He frowned. “I asked you first.”

“My name is Kylara.”

“Lowlanders don’t belong here,” he said. His eyes narrowed with distrust. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

I tried to smile at the boy. “You seem like a clever child. What do you know about Haven?”

He shrugged. “It’s just Haven.” He then ran off.

I stared at the boy until he vanished. Then we all headed up a hill to another part of town. I then saw the shop and we went in.

“Who are you?” The shopkeeper immediately said. “You’re not from Haven.”

Exasperated, I retorted, “Why does everyone here tell me that like I don’t already know it?!”

The shop owner was taken aback. “We, uh, just don’t get many visitors here… that’s all.”

“Well, you all have such a wonderful sense of hospitality; just make everyone feel so welcome here,” I muttered. Again, Wynne laid her hand on my arm. I wasn’t sure why I was so testy… Ever since we had arrived something kept the hairs on the back of my neck prickling.

“Can you tell us anything about this town?” Leliana asked.

He shrugged. “Not really. I’ve lived here all my life. It’s just Haven.”

“Have you heard of, or seen Brother Genetivi?”

“No,” he replied, a little too quickly I thought.

I sighed. “May we see your wares?”

He had some armor and weapons, but nothing that would help us out. I was about to leave when I smelled it. Decay. It was coming from the back room. I walked over to the open door leading to the back.

Immediately, he ran to block me. “What are you doing? Those are my private quarters!”

The smell was definitely stronger now. Zevran walked up to me and whispered, “What is it?”

I whispered back, “Can’t you smell it?” He inhaled quickly, then nodded. To the shopkeeper, I asked, “What are you hiding?”

“I don’t see how that is any of your concern!” he frowned.

“I am making it my concern.”

“No! You have no right! You are outsiders who don’t even belong here!” He drew a dagger.

We didn’t even have time to react. Zevran had gone into stealth while I had still been talking to the shopkeeper, and as soon as he drew his dagger, Zevran’s own sliced across his throat. The shopkeeper dropped dead.

Wynne gasped in horror. “W-was that really necessary, Zevran?”

He shrugged. “It was either him or us, my dear Wynne.” He then put his arm on her. “ I am sorry if that upset you. But it is what I do. I am an assassin.”

“I-I understand,” she said, still shaking a bit. She turned to me and asked, “Why did you press that shopkeeper like that? We are strangers in this town!”

“Wynne, he was not innocent. I smell death and decay in that back room. He was clearly hiding something from us.”

“Is it really any of our business?” she asked as I walked into the back room.

“Yes, Wynne…” I said from the back. “It is.”

She walked into the back room and almost screamed. Leliana, Zevran, and Sten quickly ran back at the sound.

There was a small altar in the back, and it was covered with fresh blood. That, however, was not the thing that had made Wynne almost scream. It was the dead body in front of it… one of the Knights of Redcliffe. The poor man had been mutilated. If it weren’t for the markings on his armor, I probably wouldn’t have known who he was.

“Oh… Oh dear,” Leliana said.

“They have all just made it our business,” I said angrily. “They must have Brother Genetivi too. I just hope he’s still alive.”

As soon as we stepped out of the store, we were immediately attacked by some of the villagers. I didn’t know if they had somehow figured out that we had killed their shopkeeper, or if it had been a trap all along. I was definitely leaning towards the latter. We quickly took care of them, as they were fighting with fists, weak spells, and dull weapons. Once they were dead, we saw their Chantry up on another hill. Their ‘Revered Father’ had to be there.

We walked into the Chantry building. Father Eirik was preaching. About halfway down the aisle, we stopped to listen.

“We are blessed beyond measure; we are chosen by the Holy and Beloved to be Her guardians. This sacred duty was given to us alone. Rejoice, my brethren, and prepare your hearts to receive Her. Lift up your voices, and despair not, for She will raise Her faithful servants to glory when Her – ” He stopped when he finally saw us standing there. We walked the rest of the way up to face Eirik.

“Ah, welcome. I heard we had visitors wandering about the village.” He sounded pleasant. His eyes, however, were anything but. “I trust you have enjoyed your time in Haven so far?” He gave a cruel smirk.

Bluntly I said, “I found a bloodstained altar and the body of one of the Knights of Redcliffe. So cut the bullshit. We are well past pretending that this village is ‘normal’!”

Father Eirik shook his head sadly. “This, my brothers, is what happens when we let outsiders into our village. They have no respect for our privacy! She will tell others of us if we let her. Word will spread… and then what?” He pointed at me. “You, stranger, do not understand our ways. You will bring war to Haven, in your ignorance!”

“What have you done with Brother Genetivi?” I demanded.

“We don’t owe you any explanations for our actions. We have a sacred duty. Failure to protect Her would be a greater sin. All will be forgiven.”

All at once the entire group of villagers in the Chantry, including Father Eirik, began attacking us. Like the villagers outside, they were ill-prepared for battle and went down quickly to my spells, Leliana’s arrows, Zevran’s daggers, and Sten’s sword. Father Eirik proved to be a bit tougher than the rest though. He quickly cast curses and other harmful spells at us, but eventually, Zevran got behind him. With a quick slash of his daggers, Eirik was killed.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I quickly had Sten block the doors of the Chantry to prevent any further Haven villagers from coming in and attacking. Once that was done, I glanced around the rest of the building. There was a back room, so I investigated. There were a few chests in there, but nothing noteworthy. I was beginning to despair that they had indeed killed Brother Genetivi when I heard a faint voice calling out.

Walking over to the sound, I ended up facing a brick wall. I gently reached out and touched it. To my surprise, it slid open. A false wall! Another small room was revealed. Lying on the floor was a man. I walked up to him.

“W-who are you?” He coughed weakly. “Did they send you to… finish it?”

“Brother Genetivi?” I asked. “I am Kylara. I am here to help you.” He breathed a sigh of relief as I helped him to sit up. “I read your notes back in Denerim. Have you found the Urn of Sacred Ashes?”

“They’ve taken great pains to keep it well hidden.” He groaned in pain. “M-my leg isn’t doing so well, and I can’t feel my foot.”

“I have some bandages in my pack.” I got them out and began wrapping his leg and foot. Wynne came over and cast a light healing spell to ease some of his pain.

“You need to rest,” she said. “That will take some time to heal properly.”

“Ah, thank you. That feels much better. But I can’t rest now! Not when I am so close! The Urn is just up the mountain… inside the temple.”

“I need to find the Ashes. Arl Eamon is sick, possibly dying.”

“The Arl is sick? How did this happen?” Genetivi asked.

I scowled. “He was poisoned under Teryn Loghain’s orders.”

Genetivi shook his head sadly. “Politics. Never did anyone any good. The Arl is a noble soul. The Ashes will surely cure him. The legends speak of their miraculous powers…”

“Were you aware that the Knights of Redcliffe had been looking for you?”

He sighed. “Yes. Eirik told me about them. He seemed pleased that he had tortured and murdered them.”

“Isolde was the one who sent them to look for you when the arl fell ill.”

“I see. She must have been desperate. But she couldn’t have known that she was sending them to their deaths.”

“So what is with this village? Why would they do all of this just to protect the Urn?” I asked.

“They call themselves the Disciples of Andraste and they are very, very devoted. One might say fanatically so,” he replied. “The odd thing is… they speak of Andraste as though She were still alive.”

“Do you think all of this, plus these blood sacrifices they make, is all tied up with a Dragon Cult?”

“So you found that book in my home as well?”

“Yes. What if a High Dragon is responsible for making these disciples believe that Andraste lives?”

He chuckled. “I don’t think that is likely. Dragons are just beasts, after all.”

“That book didn’t seem to think so,” I mumbled. I sighed and then asked, “How do we get to this temple?”

“The door to it is always locked, but I know what the key is. Eirik wears a medallion that will open the temple door.”

I ran back out to the main part of the Chantry and searched Eirik’s body. Sure enough, there was a small bronze medal around his neck. I grabbed it and yanked it off of him. Then I brought it back to Genetivi. “Is this it?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yes, that is your key. Take me to the temple and I will show you.”

“Ah, I think you should return to Denerim, Brother. You are still injured. I would feel really horrible if something further happened to you.”

“So close… and yet so far…” he sighed. “Very well, I will return to Denerim… although with my leg and foot, I don't know how I will manage.”

“You can take my horse,” Wynne said. “Do you think you can make it that far walking? It is in the stable in the village.”

I nodded. “That is a good idea, thank you, Wynne. You can then ride back double with either me or Sten.” I then turned to Genetivi. “Head to Redcliffe. That is where we got the horses. I am sure Bann Teagan can then get you a carriage that will take you back to Denerim.”

“Thank you. If you succeed, you will come to Denerim and let me know all about it, yes?”

I nodded again and then said, “Brother? I think I should also let you know… about Weylon.”

“Weylon?” What about him?”

“These ‘disciples’ had him murdered. There was an impostor in your home pretending to be him. I found the real Weylon after the fake was killed.”

Genetivi looked on the verge of tears. “Oh, poor Weylon. I should have never dragged him into this mess.”

“He died protecting your research. He was very brave.”

“He believed in me even when I lost faith in myself.” He sighed. “I will need to honor his memory once I get back to Denerim.”

“I didn’t want to leave his body there to decay. So I used my powers to cremate his remains, and my… friend… stored them in an empty vase in your study. We did this so you could have a proper ceremony for him.”

Genetivi seemed a bit surprised. “I suppose I should thank you for that. Maker take you into His hands, Weylon…”

“How did you do that, Kylara?” Wynne asked.

“It took a lot of my power to do it, but I was able to recover after sleeping.” I saw that Wynne looked a little cross at me, so I quickly said, “We can discuss it later, all right?”

“Before you go,” Genetivi said quickly as we were about to walk off, “the medallion. It is not a solid piece of bronze. It can be manipulated, like so.” He fiddled with it and then handed it back to me. “There you go. A key to open the way. Just take that back door there…” He pointed to a small door in the back of the room we were in. “It has a tunnel leading through the mountain up to the temple entrance. I saw Eirik use it on several occasions.”

I nodded. “Thank you for your help, Brother. We will find the Urn, and I will come back to tell you about it.”

“Maker smile fortune upon you all. Good luck.”

 

Past the door, there was a winding tunnel leading up higher into the mountain. The tunnel was dark, I assumed Eirik and his followers used torches to see. Since we didn’t have any, I used my glowing orb spell to light our way. The stairs continued higher and higher until finally, we came to a solid stone door. There was an indentation off to the right, so I took the medallion key and slipped it in. There was a click, and the stone door slid open. What lay beyond had us all with eyes and mouths opened wide in shock.

The temple was HUGE! I had been expecting, perhaps, a small antechamber with seating and an altar… but this was incredible! There were torches and braziers lighting up the entire space, which clearly showed that these disciples visited here a lot, yet there was a lot of debris littering the ground. I guessed they all just walked past it all so that they could go straight to the Urn.

There was a huge flight of stairs leading up, so we continued forward until we reached another door. Unfortunately, there was another key slot, and Eirik’s medallion did not seem to fit. I wondered if Genetivi hadn’t realized this. Were we going to be stopped so soon?

Leliana got my attention. “There were hallways on the left and right that we passed before these stairs. I think we are going to need to explore this entire area if we hope to go any further.”

I nodded. “You are probably right. I just hope there will be another key to find, as this one doesn’t seem to work anymore.” I put Eirik’s medallion in my pocket. I wasn’t sure if it would, but it might still come in handy later.

I did also see hallways to the left and right at the top of the stairs, but systematically, I thought we should explore everywhere. So as Leliana had suggested, we headed down the stairs and entered the first hallway we had passed, now on our right.

No sooner than we entered the passage when doors burst open and fanatical disciples rushed out and began attacking. Unlike the villagers who had attacked prior, these people were well organized and much better equipped with weapons and spells. We still managed to defeat them, but it definitely meant we would have to be cautious as we made our way through this massive temple.

We next explored the passage on the left. Halfway down the hall, we came upon another locked door. These people did so love their secrets! I tried the medallion key, but again, it did not work. Continuing on, there was a large room at the end with bookshelves and scrolls everywhere. I heard Wynne intake a breath of awe.

“Oh, look at all of these ancient books! I would so love to stay and read some of these,” she said quietly.

“Well, rather than let them sit here and rot, let’s just grab a few,” I told her.

So we all split up and each of us, with the exception of Sten, and perused the shelves as quickly as we could. Once each of us had grabbed a few tomes of interest, we left the library.

Now we headed up the stairs again to handle the passages up there. The one on the right had another dead Redcliffe Knight in it, but nothing else, so we then headed to the passage on the right. It had been a bit quiet since the first ambush of cultists (which is what I was starting to think of them), but in this passage, we were attacked again. A huge Bronto stampeded out of the first alcove on our left. _How in the void did they get that thing in here?_

Traditional spells usually just angered these beasts due to their thick hides, so I resorted to spells that would slow it down while letting Sten do the brunt of the damage. Soon it was dead. More cultists swarmed out of the rooms ahead and while the narrow hall didn’t really give us a fighting advantage, it also hampered their efforts as well.

As soon as they were all dead, Wynne looked us over for any injuries to heal. Fortunately, they were all minor. In a chest in a small room at the end, I found a key. Trying it on the main door, still did nothing. These cultists really wanted to make life difficult for us. Remembering that there was another locked door at the bottom of the stairs, I had everyone wait while I ran back down the stairs to that small room. Before I opened it, I put my ear to the door to make sure there would be no surprises for me.

All was quiet. Still being cautious, I slid the key into the lock. It worked! Inside the room were some chests, and in one of them, another key! Praying that it was for the main door, I left the room and ran back up the stairs to my friends.

 _Please…_ _Let this be it!_ I thought and slipped the new key into this lock. A click! The door opened! This room was not as big as the first antechamber, but it was still a bit large. Cultists swarmed into the room and started attacking, there was a mage at the top of the stairs. I ran up to deal with him, while my friends picked off the others. Once the room was clear, they joined me at the top of the stairs. A large brazier was in front of us, but it wasn’t lit. The door in front of it was sealed and there was no keyhole this time. _Perhaps the brazier is the key?_ I used a simple flame spell and lit the brazier. The door slid open. As soon as we walked in, a new creature appeared… an Ash Wraith. It was accompanied by more cultists that swarmed in through the side doors. We dealt with all of the enemies in the same way as before.

Now we faced a bit of a dilemma. There were two passages leading down long hallways on both the right and left. “Sten?” He looked at me. “Can you accompany Wynne down the hallway on our right?” He nodded. “Leliana and Zev, accompany me down the hall on the left. I have no idea how long these passages are, but we do need to explore both.”

“How will we know what the others find?” Zevran asked.

“I can use a communication spell. Wynne, if you will join me?” She nodded and together we spoke the incantation as we touched each other's lips and then ears. “Bruidhinn agus cluinn gu math.” <Talk and hear well.> Then we went our separate ways.

As we stayed in touch with each other, the only comments I heard from Wynne on her end were more cultists and Ash Wraiths. Zev, Leliana, and I had the same. Eventually, we both came to a door at the end of each hallway. We opened the doors… to end up facing each other! Wynne and I then removed the spell from each other.

“Well, that was fortuitous!” Leliana grinned.

After making our way through a few more rooms, the temple seemed to end and we stepped back into a natural cave system. There were still torches and braziers of fire at regular intervals, so we knew we were still going the right way.

All of a sudden I heard something slithering up the passage towards us. I paused for a moment as the creatures came into the light. Dragonlings! They hissed and snapped at us. I knew their bites were poisonous, so I quickly used a cone of cold spell to freeze them in their tracks. Everyone quickly killed them off.

This pattern became rather repetitive… Cultists, cult mages, cult reavers, dragonlings. It seemed never-ending. The path through the cave system was also climbing higher and higher.

At one point we entered a room that had dozens of frozen ox carcasses. I was glad they were frozen from the coolness of the cave and the fact our elevation was getting higher. I certainly didn’t want to smell this mess.

“They must be using these to feed the dragon babies…” Leliana started to say, but then we heard a deeper growl. A juvenile drake slithered into the room. “…or something bigger…” she trailed off as the beast charged us. An ice spell froze it solid, and Sten shattered it.

“Seems they are vulnerable to cold spells,” I said. I cast a frozen weapon charm on Zevran’s daggers and on Sten’s sword. “This should help.” They both nodded.

Another room had a few more drakes in it, and in the back, there was a table with dozens of dragon eggs on it. There was also an altar, a bloody knife, and a blood-encrusted goblet. My thoughts went back to the book I’d read on Dragon Cults. It was clear now that this is what had happened to the former Disciples of Andraste. They were sacrificing dragon young and drinking their blood. The presence of the eggs also made it clear that there was a mother dragon around somewhere… Perhaps the High Dragon itself?

We continued up higher. There were occasional vents and cracks in the walls letting out steam. The air grew humid as we entered the next room. More cultists fell to our spells and blades. Once the room was clear, I realized why it was so humid and warm in this room. There, in the back, were several hot springs. I also felt it was getting very late in the day.

“Do you think we might be safe enough to make a camp here in the back and get a few hours of rest?” I asked. “We will still have to keep watch, but I am getting tired.” The rest of the group nodded, but for Sten.

“I’ll keep watch,” he simply said.

So we set up our bedrolls by the hot springs. I got out some travel rations and handed them to everyone. We sat in silence, but Zevran kept glancing at the hot springs.

“What’s on your mind, Zev?” I asked.

“I was only contemplating that they look very relaxing. I kind of wish we could…”

Leliana giggled, “I bet you do, Zevran.”

I looked at the steaming, hot water. It did look inviting, but I shook my head. “Tempting though they may be, I don’t think it is a good idea. The last thing we would want is to be surprised by an enemy ambush with our clothes off…”

“Kylara!” Wynne exclaimed, blushing. “What a thing to say!”

“Ah, but it would be a sight they would surely remember before they died!” Zevran chuckled. Leliana and I also burst out laughing. Wynne was still blushing… but eventually, she began to laugh along with us. Sten sighed and shook his head.

 

After a few hours of rest, we packed everything up and cautiously proceeded back out into the tunnel. I was surprised that we hadn’t been attacked while we rested, but I didn’t take it for granted. There were a few more caves that had dead ends and a few more dragonlings and drakes to kill, but I saw no other people.

A few more hours passed and even the drakes and dragonlings had all but vanished. It was quiet… too quiet. We all traveled in silence, carefully making our way up yet another tunnel. It terminated into a vast cavern and standing in the center, there was a man in full armor, flanked by a few other cultist reavers and mages. It was clear he saw us but since he made no move to attack, we walked up to him. He then spoke.

“Stop!” he said in a rough voice. “You will go no further!”

“Oh? Is that so?” I asked.

He scowled. “You have defiled our temple. You have spilled the blood of our faithful and slaughtered our young! No more!” He pointed at me. You will tell me now, intruder, why have you done all of this? Why have you come here?!”

“We have come for the Urn of Sacred Ashes.”

“You did this all for an ancient relic? Know this, stranger, the prophet Andraste has overcome death itself and has returned to Her faithful in a form more radiant than you can imagine! Not even the Tevinter Imperium could hope to slay Her now. What hope do you have?”

“And what has happened to the Ashes?” _Maker, I hope they haven’t destroyed them! Then all of this will have been for nothing!_

The man’s voice calmed somewhat. “They still remain within this temple, but why do we need the Ashes when we serve the risen Andraste in all Her glory?”

I was glad to hear that they were still intact. “You treat the Ashes with such disdain.”

“Hmph. What are they but the remains of a mortal woman?”

“You should have no qualms about giving them to me then,” I said.

“So,” he said with an unfriendly smile, “you are only after the Ashes? Hmm… Perhaps there is a way for you to make up for your desecration of our home and temple.”

I didn’t like this. “Why do you suddenly want to cooperate with me?”

He had a calculating look in his eyes. “It may be because I believe in second chances,” he said as he stroked his beard. “All of us stumble through the darkness before being found and shown the light. Perhaps through Andraste’s mercy, Her greatest enemy shall become Her greatest champion!”

“Just say what you have to say,” I sighed.

He smiled at me. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Father Kolgrim. I lead the Disciples of Andraste. The Ashes you seek reside atop this mountain, watched by an immortal guardian who refuses to accept the truth of the risen Lady. These Ashes prevent holy Andraste from fully realizing Her new form. They are a remnant of Her past incarnation and She cannot move on as long as they exist.”

I wasn’t sure I liked where this was going, but I went along… for now. “Go on.”

“Our Beloved needs to reclaim the Ashes to make them Her own again. All it would take is a drop of Her blood. Blood carries power, strength, knowledge! Through it, all the power that is held in the Ashes will be returned to our Lady!”

“Why have you not done this then?” I heard Leliana and Wynne both gasp. I turned and made a quick gesture to calm them… a slight shake of my head and mouthed “no”. They both breathed a sigh of relief.

Kolgrim apparently hadn’t noticed. “The Guardian has foiled all of our attempts of reaching the Urn. He keeps what power remains from the true Andraste. He knows the Disciples and we cannot touch him, for he draws his strength from the Ashes themselves. But you,” he said, as he pointed at me again, “could deliver our Lady what is rightfully hers. The rewards for performing such a service to us would be great indeed…” I didn’t say anything in response. Kolgrim seemed to take that as my willingness to proceed. “You will gain the right to the power of the dragon… the power of risen Andraste herself! The task is simple. I give you a vial of the holy Andraste’s blood and you empty the vial into the Ashes. Whatever magic was held in them will be undone and our great Lady will be free from the shackles of her past life!”

I sadly shook my head. “You want me to destroy the Ashes?” I drew my staff. “I would see you dead first!”

At first, Kolgrim was taken by surprise, then fury filled his face. “To arms, my brethren! Andraste will grant us victory!” He drew his sword and swung it at me. I rolled out of the way.

Sten met him blow for blow swords clanging, sparks flying. Zev had gone into stealth and got behind one of the reavers to deal with him.

“Leliana!” I shouted. “Go for one of the mages! I’ll get the other!” She nodded and quickly started shooting at the mage closest to her. I used my own long-range spells to attack the other.

One reaver was down, and Zev quickly went to intercept the other before Wynne came to harm. Leliana’s mage was now dead, and she helped me to quickly kill the other one. As soon as the other reaver was dead, we all focused on Kolgrim. With all of us against him, he stood no chance.

Once Kolgrim was dead, I turned to Leliana and Wynne. “There was no way I was going to destroy the Ashes. I just wanted to see what that lunatic was trying to do.”

“I am sorry I doubted you Kylara… even if it was only for a second. I know you better than that.” Leliana said.

“No harm was done. Let’s get going now. We have a dragon to kill.”

 

We exited the cave into the bright light of midday. After being in a fairly dark cave for so long, it took our eyes a moment to adjust. As our vision cleared, the High Dragon decided this was a great time to make her appearance. She swooped in, screaming her defiance. She then landed on a nearby mountain ledge. After roaring again and spewing flames, she then lay down. I couldn’t tell if she was waiting for us, or if she truly had decided to take a nap.

I refreshed the cold spell on Sten and Zevran’s weapons. “Leliana? Do you have any ice arrows?” She nodded and switched them out. “Wynne, try to keep a shield on Sten and Zevran when appropriate… and please keep your distance.”

“What are you going to do, Kylara?” Wynne asked. “Nothing foolish, I hope.”

“No, I have learned my lesson. However, I will be channeling a blizzard spell for a few moments. It seems cold will do the most damage. After I am done channeling, Sten can charge in, and Zev can use stealth to try and get a few hits in.” I turned to my elven assassin friend. “Please do be careful though, Zev. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Ah, worry not, my dear Warden. Your concern is most touching, but I am quick and clever. I will not be a dragon’s snack today.” He gave me a wink. I smiled at him.

“Let’s go.”

 

Down the path, there was a gong. I guessed that the Disciples used this to summon the High Dragon. Once everyone was in position, I took the mallet and banged on the gong. It rang out loudly throughout the open area, echoing off of the neighboring mountains. The High Dragon raised its head and roared. Then it leaped off of the ledge and flew down, landing in front of me. It spat out a huge fireball, I rolled out of the way and then began to chant.

 

Tha mi a 'gairm air fearg nàdair.

<I call on nature's anger.>

Thoir dhomh gaoth làidir, fuar, agus deigh.

<Give me strong wind, cold, and ice.>

Tha mi airson mo nàmhaid a sgrios!

<I want to destroy my enemy!>

Bàs le reothadh!

<Death with frost!>

 

The High Dragon was quickly surrounded by a vast swirling storm of winds and ice. I could see it damaging her slowly, as sharp ice shards cut into her scales. One shard hit her eye and punctured it. She roared in fury as blood streamed down her reptilian face. Finally, I could no longer channel. I let the spell drop and quickly swallowed a lyrium potion. “Wynne, shield! Sten! Charge her! Leliana ice arrows!”

Working together, we continued to damage the dragon, bit by bit. Sten jumped and dodged her bite attacks, while Zevran ran under her belly, stabbing his daggers in deep. I cast other ice and cold spells and Leliana kept shooting her ice arrows. Screeching her fury, the High Dragon made one last attempt at trying to kill one of us. She breathed a huge gout of flame at Sten but Wynne’s shield held. Zevran quickly jumped onto the dragon’s back and ran up to her head. His dagger went into her other eye. Blinded, she shrieked loudly. Sten swung his sword down with a fearsome strike to her neck, slicing clean through. The dragon was dead.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I saw Zevran digging his dagger under one of the larger dragon scales. He eventually pried it loose and handed it to me.

“Uh, what is this for Zev?” I asked. “A souvenir?”

“I have heard tales of smiths that can use dragon scales to make fine armor. Perhaps you will find someone who can?”

Touched that he would think of that, I gave him a quick hug and said, “Thank you! That is a great idea! You are a true friend.”

“I truly wish I could be more than just a friend,” he whispered in my ear. “If things should ever turn in that way…”

I didn’t want to give him false hopes. “Zev, I am touched and grateful, but…”

“I understand. I can only hope and wish for it. Nothing more.” He sighed. “Come now. Let us go and find these Ashes, yes?”

We then set out for the entrance of the true temple of Andraste, and Her final resting place.

 


	17. The Gauntlet and Return to Redcliffe (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylara and her friends must go through a series of tests to find if they are worthy. Will they be allowed to take some of the Sacred Ashes to cure Arl Eamon?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art of Kylara and Alistair before their first night together by the fantastic Agregor! (https://www.deviantart.com/agregor/)
> 
> ** Mature Content Ahead **

We walked into a small building and turned a corner. Standing in front of the door leading onwards was a ghostly man in full battle armor.

He nodded as we approached. “I bid you welcome, pilgrim.”

“You must be the Guardian,” I said.

“Yes, I am the Guardian of the Ashes. I have waited years for this.”

“For… us?”

“You are the first to arrive in a very long time,” he said in a somber tone. “It has been my duty, my life, to protect the Urn and prepare the way for the faithful who come to revere Andraste. For years beyond counting have I been here, and shall I remain until my task is done and the Imperium has crumbled into the sea.”

“The Imperium is no longer as powerful as it once was,” I told him.

He seemed surprised to hear this. “Ah, it is not? Then perhaps this is the beginning of the end.”

“Who are the men who have taken over the rest of the temple?”

“When my brethren and I carried Andraste from Tevinter to this sanctuary, we vowed to forever revere Her memory and guard Her. I have watched generations of my brethren take up the mantle of their fathers. For centuries they did this, unwavering, joyful, in their appointed task.” He looked sad. “But they lost their way. They have forgotten Andraste… and their promise.”

“They have been worshiping a dragon, instead of Andraste,” I said.

“The dragon is a fearsome creature. They must have seen her as an alternative to the absent Maker and His silent Andraste. A true believer would not require audacious displays of power.”

“How did this belief spread to the rest of the disciples?”

“It began with the ancestor of the one known as Kolgrim. He saw himself as a new prophet, preaching the rebirth. Some disagreed with him. I heard their cries of pain and loss which were quickly silenced. Kolgrim and his followers had forgotten that Andraste was just a messenger. They spoke no more of the Maker, only of their false Andraste, an even greater sin.”

“They will not trouble anyone anymore. They are now dead… and so is the dragon. Perhaps the real truth will come back to any remaining disciples,” I said.

The Guardian nodded. “Perhaps it will someday.”

“May I see the Urn now?”

“You have come to honor Andraste, and you shall if you prove yourself worthy.”

“I need the Ashes to help cure a very sick, but noble, man.”

He nodded again. “Still, you must prove yourself worthy. It is not my place to decide your worthiness. The Gauntlet does that. It tells the true pilgrims from the false. You will undergo four tests of faith and we shall see how your soul fares. If you are found worthy, you will see the Urn and be allowed to take a small pinch of the Ashes for yourself. If not…”

“All right then, I will take these tests, Guardian,” I said.

“Before you go, there is something I must ask. I see that the path that led you here was not easy. There is suffering in your past – your suffering, and the suffering of others. You betrayed Jowan to Irving. He was almost killed and he lost the one thing that mattered most to him… Lily. Jowan trusted you. Tell me, do you think you failed Jowan?”

I immediately answered. “No. Jowan brought it upon himself by dabbling in blood magic.”

“Then you do not dwell on past mistakes – neither yours nor someone else’s.”

Wynne put her hand on my shoulder. “It is sometimes difficult to see how our actions affect an outcome, but that does not mean our actions had no effect.” I nodded.

“What’s past is past,” Leliana said. “Why bring it up and open old wounds?”

“And now, the self-flagellation?” Zevran smirked. “That is what comes next in these things, no?”

“Parshaara. Leave the past where it falls,” Sten replied.

“And what of those that follow you?” the Guardian asked.

Wynne spoke first. “Ask your question, Guardian. I am ready.”

“You are ever the advisor, ready with a word of wisdom. Do you wonder if you spout only platitudes, burned into your mind in the distant past? Perhaps you are only a tool used to spread the word of the Circle and the Chantry. Does doubt ever chip away at your truths?”

“You frame the statement in the form of a question, yet you already know my answer. There is no sense in hiding is there? Yes, I do doubt at times. Only a fool is completely certain of him or herself.”

The Guardian turned to Leliana. “And you… Why do you say that the Maker speaks to you when all know that the Maker has left? He spoke only to Andraste. Do you believe yourself Her equal?”

Leliana was shocked. “I never said that! I – ”

“In Orlais, you were someone. In Ferelden, in Lothering, you feared you would lose yourself, become a drab Sister and disappear. When your Brothers and Sisters of the cloister criticized you for what you professed, you were hurt, but you also reveled in it. It made you special… even if the attention was negative.”

“Are you saying that I made it up… for the attention?” Leliana was angry. “I did not! I know what I believe!”

Zevran was next to be scrutinized. “The Antivan elf…”

“Ah, is it my turn now? Hurrah, I am so excited!”

“Many have died at your hand, but is there any you regret more than a woman by the name of – ”

Zevran cut him off abruptly. “How do you know about that?”

“I know much,” The Guardian replied. “It is allowed to me. The question stands, however. Do you regret – ”

Again, Zevran cut him off. It was very clear that this conversation was making him very uncomfortable. “Yes. The answer is yes, if that is what you wish to know. I do regret. Now move on.”

Sten spoke. “Demand whatever answers you want, spirit.”

“You came to this land as an observer, but you killed a family in a blind rage. Have you failed your people, by allowing a Qunari to be seen in that light?”

“I have never denied that I failed,” he replied.

The Guardian bowed to us. “The way is open. Good luck, and may you find what you seek.”

 

We entered the next room. There was a door at the end, but it was sealed. Lining the way to the door were eight spirits. I approached the first one and it spoke.

“Echoes from a shadow realm, whispers of things yet to come. Thought’s strange sister dwells in night, is swept away by dawning light. Of what do I speak?”

 _More riddles,_ I thought. _At least I am good at them!_

“Dreams,” I said.

The spirit nodded and said, “A dream came upon me, as my daughter slumbered beneath my heart. It told of her life, and of her betrayal and death. I am sorrow and regret. I am a mother weeping bitter tears for a daughter she could not save.”

The spirit then vanished in a flash of light. I moved onto the next one.

“The smallest lark could carry it, while a strong man might not. Of what do I speak?”

“A tune,” I answered.

“Yes, I was Andraste’s best friend in childhood, and together we would always sing. She celebrated the beauty of life, and all who heard Her would be filled with joy. They say the Maker Himself was moved by Andraste’s song, and then She sang no more of simple things.”

Another bright flash. I noticed as each spirit disappeared, a symbol on the door lit up. This was how to unlock it.

I continued on down to each spirit. Each riddle I answered correctly and each spirit vanished. Finally, the way was open. I moved on to the next room. To my surprise, Cullen stood in front of me. I turned to my companions to see if they saw the same thing, but they all looked frozen. I turned back. “Cullen? What are you doing here?”

“I am here and not here. I am real and I am part of the Gauntlet. You have been worrying if I am still angry at you. You feel guilt over the kiss that sparked my infatuation with you. What you did to me was years ago and we were both still very much innocents in the world. Because of Uldred, my anger towards you and other mages will remain for some time, but you must not let the guilt of it weigh you down. Bad things will happen in your life. Learn from them, use the knowledge to correct your mistakes, but learn to let the guilt go.” He smiled at me. “Go now. May the Maker and Andraste both watch over you.”

Cullen faded away. I then turned to my companions. Leliana had a worried look on her face. Wynne looked sad, Sten pensive… and Zevran looked miserable. I heard him whisper, “Rinna…”, but then he turned away before I could ask what he meant. As I had dealt with Cullen, each of my friends must have seen their own “ghost” from their past. Hopefully, they would be willing to share with me what they saw.

The next room we entered had a strange black smoke near the floor. As we all walked in, we were suddenly ambushed my ghostly doppelgängers of ourselves. I ended up facing off against the Zevran copy, Wynne against Leliana, Zevran against Sten, Sten against Wynne, and Leliana against my “ghost”. All of us knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses helped to make the battle a fairly short one. Once done, the door opened into the next area.

After a short hallway, we came to a room that had a huge hole in the middle of the floor. There were several panels going in a circle on either side of the hole, but they did not connect to reach the door. I stepped on one of the panels and a ghostly image of a bridge piece came into view. Another puzzle! I went back to the center, and each of my friends began to step on panels until the one piece of bridge in front of me became solid. I stepped on it and it held. So working together, they continued stepping on panels until the entire bridge was completed. We all went across.

We entered the last room. I could see the Urn in front of us, on top of a staircase and below a statue of Andraste. I started forward, but a huge wall of flame appeared preventing us from going any closer. Had I failed a part of the tests of faith? It was then that I saw a very small altar in front of the flames. There was a plaque on it. I read, “Cast off the trappings of worldly life and cloak yourself in the goodness of spirit. King and slave, Lord and beggar; be born anew in the Maker’s sight.” Did this mean… I had to strip down… naked? Not only that but then walk through fire while naked? I swallowed nervously, but I had come this far! I wasn’t about to stop now! I looked at my companions and explained what I thought the plaque was saying.

“Well, I do not mind in the slightest!” Zevran grinned. “To see all of you beautiful women naked! What a treat that will be!” He began to take off his armor.

“Wait, Zev. Please?” I said. “Maybe only one of us has to go? We only need one pinch of Ashes.” Zevran looked disappointed, but only for a moment. I asked Wynne to hold my staff and pack, and then I slowly removed my robe. Down to only my underclothing, I muttered, “Hope this is enough.” I stepped into the fire.

No heat. No pain. It felt like a cool breeze instead. I got through the fire and it vanished. Wynne handed my robe over, and I put it on quickly, but not before I caught Zevran gazing at me with longing.

The Guardian suddenly appeared before us. “You have been through the trials of the Gauntlet. You have walked the path of Andraste, and like Her, you have been cleansed. You have proven yourself worthy, pilgrim. You may approach the Sacred Ashes.”

“Thank you, Guardian.” He nodded at me and then turned to leave. I stopped him and quietly asked, “How do we use them to help cure Arl Eamon?”

“Place them on his head and heart… and you will witness the miracle,” he said. Then he vanished.

All of us slowly walked up the stairs. I knelt in front of the Urn and murmured a prayer of thanks. Then I stood back up.

“Hmm, nice vase,” Zevran quipped. “I could use one for my room.” I elbowed him in the ribs. He rubbed them and pretended to look hurt. I shook my head slowly.

“I could not have asked for a greater honor than to be here. I will never forget this feeling…” Wynne said softly.

I reached into my pack and pulled out a small leather pouch. Carefully, I opened the lid of the Urn, took a small pinch of the Ashes and placed it into my pouch. Then I tied it shut and replaced the lid. I turned to my companions. “Let’s get back to Haven, get our horses and get back to the arl as soon as we can.”

 

By the time we made it out of the temple and down the mountain, it was night. We left the Haven Chantry very carefully, but it seemed that the remaining villagers had either fled or barred themselves into their homes. No one attacked or tried to stop us. Even the guard who had been at the entrance to the town was gone. We went to the dilapidated stables to get our horses. Fortunately, the villagers had not done anything to them. Our horses were just fine, munching on their hay.

“Do you think we should stay the night here?” Leliana asked as I untethered my horse’s reins. “I mean, it is dark… and the path down is steep.”

“I had thought about it, Leliana, but I don’t think we should. Just because there are no villagers or any remaining cultists here now, doesn’t mean there won’t be later. I think we need to get as far away from here as possible.”

Sten and Wynne both agreed with me. Once we had all gotten our horses out of the stable, I summoned my glowing orb and cast it into the air above us, giving us enough light to see the footpath leading down. We walked, single-file, down the path, leading our horses by their reins.

When we got to the trail that followed the river, we mounted up, Wynne sitting side-saddle in front of Sten. My orb still floating above to light our way, we rode away from Haven.

 

We arrived back at Redcliffe in the early afternoon. A total of four days we had been gone and the town was quiet when we rode back in. I hoped all was still well. We rode all the way up the path back up to the castle and then dismounted. I closed the portcullis for the time being so that we could leave the horses in the courtyard. Then I walked up the stairs and into the castle.

I saw Teagan sitting on a chair in the audience chamber. He looked worried. We all walked up to him.

“Teagan, we have them,” I said.

He immediately jumped out of the chair. “This is wonderful news! Come, we must get upstairs and see if the Ashes live up to their miraculous healing powers!”

 

In the arl’s bedroom, Alistair, Isolde, Connor, and Irving were all waiting. I carefully gave the Ashes to Mother Hannah from the Chantry. I explained to her what she needed to do. Then all of us, including Zevran and even Sten (to my surprise) knelt down respectfully. I could hear Isolde murmuring prayers. Mother Hannah did as I instructed and then we all waited… and prayed.

A soft glow surrounded Arl Eamon. Within moments, I heard him groan slightly, and his eyes opened. “Wh-where am I?”

Teagan got up and approached his brother, tears in his eyes. “Be calm, brother. You have been deathly ill for a long time. Do you remember anything?”

“Teagan? What are you doing here? Where is Isolde?”

Still kneeling, Isolde grabbed her husband’s hand. “I am here, my husband…”

“And Connor? Where is our boy?” he asked.

“He lives,” Isolde replied softly, tears running down her face. “Though many others are dead. There is much to tell you, my love.”

“Dead? Then… it was not a dream?”

“Much has happened since you fell ill, brother. Some of it will not be… easy to hear,” Teagan said.

“Tell me,” Eamon said as he slowly sat up. “I wish to hear all of it.”

 

Apologetically, Teagan asked for everyone to leave the arl’s bedchamber, with the exception of Alistair and me. Teagan introduced me to his brother.

“This is Kylara, brother. She is the Grey Warden traveling with Alistair and also the one who found the Sacred Ashes which cured you.”

I knelt down in front of Arl Eamon.

“Grey Warden, Kylara. You have not only saved my life but kept my family safe as well. I am in your debt. Will you permit me to offer you a reward for your service?”

“We need your help against the Blight, my Lord. That will do.”

He nodded. “I understand, but regardless of your motivations I still feel you are worthy of a reward. I would like to honor your efforts, nothing more.”

“As you wish, my Lord.”

“Then you, and all of your companions are to be champions of Redcliffe. You will always be a welcome guest here. Now rise, my Lady.” I did so. “Alistair, to you I present a shield of the same make as those that have been given to our finest Knights. May it serve you well.”

Alistair bowed, “Thank you, my Lord.”

Teagan cleared his throat gently. “Brother… We need to speak now of Loghain. There is no telling what he may do when he learns of your recovery.”

“Yes, this is indeed most troubling.” Eamon shook his head sadly. “Loghain instigates a civil war even though the darkspawn are on our very doorstep. Long have I known him. He was a sensible man; one who never desired power before.”

Teagan put his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I was in Denerim when he announced that he was taking control of the throne. He has gone mad with ambition, I tell you. He has also tried to kill the Grey Wardens, not once, but twice!”

“Mad indeed… Mad enough to kill my nephew Cailan and to try and kill me! I know not what has happened to Loghain, but he must be stopped. We cannot fight a war on two fronts.”

“But you can unite the nobility against Loghain, can’t you?” I asked.

“I could unite those who do oppose Loghain, but he still has some very powerful allies,” Eamon replied. “I can spread the word of his treachery, both here and against the King, but it is a claim without proof…”

“What about us? We are the proof! I stood on that tower and watched Loghain and his troops march away from the battle!” I said angrily.

“While that is true, Loghain has declared you and Alistair as the traitors. They will believe him before they believe you, I’m afraid,” Teagan replied.

“Teagan is correct. Now, my claims will give some of Loghain’s allies pause, but we will need to combine it with a challenge that Loghain cannot ignore. We need someone with a stronger claim to the throne than his daughter, Queen Anora.”

Alistair blanched. “W-wait… You mean… me?”

“I am sorry, Alistair, but the unthinkable has happened. I would not suggest this, were there another alternative.”

“You are going to put Alistair forward as King?” I asked softly. I could see the very idea terrified him. I moved a little closer to him and took his hand in mine.

Eamon sighed. "Teagan and I have a claim through marriage, but we would seem… opportunists, no better than Loghain. Alistair’s claim is by blood.”

“What about me?” Alistair asked with a tremble in his voice. “Doesn’t anyone care about what I want?” I squeezed his hand gently.

“You have a responsibility, Alistair,” Eamon said. “Without you, Loghain will win. I would have to support him in order to unite us against the darkspawn. For the sake of Ferelden… is that what you want?”

Alistair swallowed nervously. “I – No, my Lord.” He then stared at the ground miserably. I looked at him with sympathy.

“Then we will proceed as thus. It will take some time, but I will call for a Landsmeet in Denerim. There, Ferelden can decide who shall rule, one way or another. After that has been decided, then the business of fighting our true foe can begin.” Eamon looked at me. “What do you say, my Lady. I do not wish to proceed without your blessings.”

“Me?” I asked in surprise. Eamon nodded. I looked at Alistair and he looked at me. I sighed. “It seems we have little choice…”

“Very well. I will begin sending out the word. In the meantime, you can gather up the remaining two treaties, yes?”

I nodded.

“As for the mage who poisoned me… I will deal with him in the morning. For now, I’d like to rest for a little and then we can have a banquet in your thanks, Warden Kylara.”

Alistair walked up to Eamon. “Sir, if I may ask, could we please keep this whole… King thing… quiet from the rest of the rest of our group? For now?”

“If that is what you wish, then yes. I won’t tell them at this time.”

Alistair breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes, please. I would like that.” He then turned to me. “May I have a word in private with you, Kylara?”

“Yes, of course,” I said.

We left the arl’s bedroom and found a smaller bedroom nearby, which was unoccupied. Alistair closed the door behind us. He swept me into his embrace and kissed me. “I missed you,” he murmured.

“And I you,” I quietly replied.

He then sat down on the small be in the room. I sat next to him.

“I am amazed you found the Urn. What was it like?”

“Nothing has touched me so deeply before,” I said. “It was… humbling.”

“I am glad the Ashes worked and it cured Eamon, but…”

“You are wishing he wasn’t planning on pushing you as the heir,” I finished for him.

“Exactly! I am so glad you understand me!” He kissed me gently again. “I don’t want to be King… but,” he sighed, “I don’t know what else we **can** do. Loghain must pay for his treachery!”

“Perhaps something else will present itself in time,” I said. “For now, I guess we go along with it.”

Alistair sighed again. “I hope so.”

“I guess I should go ahead and get ready for this banquet…” I got up off the bed. “I’ll see you soon.”

 

After finishing a lavish meal that Arl Eamon’s staff had prepared for us in thanks for us saving both Connor and the arl, I slowly made my way back to my guest room. Too much wine had made me a little tipsy, but I didn’t mind in the slightest.

I sat down at the dresser and unpinned my hair from the glittering clips. Then I slipped off the dress Lady Isolde's maid had provided me. It may have been one of her older, cast-off dresses, but I had never worn anything so fine. From the looks that Alistair had been giving me all night, it was clear he found me stunningly beautiful.

Feeling a little risqué, I dug through the chest of clothes that one of the arlessa’s maids had brought to my room. I slipped on a semi-transparent nightgown and tied it closed. I had never considered myself to be pretty, even though some of my fellow male mage friends used to stare at me from time to time. I briefly thought of Jowan, who was in the prison below the arl’s estate and then shook my head. He deserved whatever punishment the arl would deliver tomorrow.

Just as I blew out the oil lamp, leaving only the fire in the fireplace as the only light in my room, I heard a hesitant knock on my door. I got up and opened it. To my surprise, it was Alistair. He quickly blushed with embarrassment when he saw what I was wearing.

“I… Oh, um… I didn’t realize you were getting ready for… bed. Um, I should leave you alone,” he stammered.

I smiled. “Nonsense, I am fine. Come on in, please.” I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

He blushed again and slowly walked into my room. I shut the door, and then sat on a small settee in the room. I gestured for Alistair to join me. He was still dressed in what he had worn to dinner, but he had removed his boots. _Odd_ , I thought, _but perhaps it was more comfortable for him_.

He sat down, still looking a bit edgy. I knew he loved me and there should be no reason for his nervousness. Was it because I what I was dressed, or rather undressed in, that made him feel this way? I saw his eyes flashing a little, and guessed I was correct.

“So,” I began, trying to break the tension, “What can I do for you?”

Alistair blinked rapidly, and then said, “I… just wanted to… thank you.”

“Thank me?”

“F-for everything you have done. For the arl, and his family, and for… me.” He nervously cleared his throat. “You are a selfless woman, Kylara. You always put other’s needs before your own… and it is amazing.”

“Alist –“ I started, but he put a finger to my lips.

“Please, let me… I… Oh! Why is this so difficult!” He got up from the settee. “Maybe I should… go.” He started to turn around.

I quickly got up and put my hand on his shoulder. “Please, don’t leave,” I said quietly.

He slowly turned around to face me, and then pulled me into his embrace. His lips met mine in a kiss that was a lot more passionate than the ones before. I gasped as I could feel his excitement. He broke the kiss off and placed his forehead against mine and whispered my name.

“You think this would get easier the more I am around you… But every time… I lose my mind. I stammer, I stumble. Being away you made me… crazy. I don’t want to be separated from you anymore. Not… ever.” He then took a step back from me.

“What are you trying to say, Alistair?” He was so nervous. Clearly whatever he was about to say to me was big.

“L-Let me try to start over.” He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and then said, “I want you… I hope this isn’t too fast, but I know what I feel…”

A warmth that had nothing to do with the wine I had drunk earlier flooded through me. My body tingled. Was he saying what I thought he was?

He looked deep into my eyes. “I-I don’t know how to say this any other way, but I want to spend the night with you. Tonight.” He waited with baited breath.

“You want to spend the night? With me?” My own voice quivered, both with nerves and excitement.

Alistair closed his eyes. “I wanted to wait for the perfect time. But when will it ever be perfect?” He opened his eyes and stared into my own. I was sure they were shimmering, just as his own were. “If things were perfect, we would never have even met! We sort of… stumbled into one another, and despite this being the least perfect time, I still found myself falling for you in between all of the fighting and everything else.

“I… don’t want to wait anymore. I love you.” He took a quick breath, “You know I have never done this… before. But I want it to be with you. Just you… and me. While we have the chance.”

Now I put my finger to his lips. Then I quickly replaced it with my lips. Gentle at first, but then I began kissing with more passion. My hand closed over one of Alistair’s and I guided it to one of the ties holding my nightgown closed. I helped him tug each one free. Then I broke the kiss, stepped back and let the thin gown fall to the floor.

His eyes widened in surprise, but the look quickly became molten desire.

“Maker’s Breath…” he whispered. “You are… beautiful. He quickly undid the ties on his linen shirt and took it off.

I had not seen Alistair bare-chested before. He was stunning. His chest was broad and muscled, with a light sprinkling of blond hair. It tapered down to a narrow waist with tight abdominal muscles. Glorious was the only word coming to my mind. I lightly traced my nails up and down his chest. He groaned.

“You like that?” I whispered.

He nodded and then quietly asked, “May I… touch you?”

I took his hands into mine and guided them up to my breasts. He began to explore them with wonder. His hands were rough and calloused, but his touch was very gentle. His thumbs brushed up against my nipples and they tightened in anticipation. He swallowed nervously and looked at me. I nodded, encouraging him.

He pulled me back to the settee and sat down next to me. “I… um… What do you want me to do?”

“Do whatever you'd like.”

“What if I… do something… wrong?” he asked with a tremor in his voice.

“If I don't like it, I'll say something. I promise.”

“A-all right then.” He brushed his lips up against my neck. I shivered. Using one hand to support my back, he then trailed his lips and tongue down my neck, across my collarbone, and with one final glance up at me, he then closed his lips around my nipple.

“Ooh…” I moaned in desire.

Encouraged and emboldened, he brought his other hand up to pinch and play with my other breast as his lips, teeth, and tongue did wicked things to the first one.

My moans got louder. For someone who had never done anything like this before, Alistair was a very quick learner.

He switched so that now my other nipple got the same loving attention as the first. Then he slowly kissed his way back up to my mouth. My lips opened, and he slid his tongue inside. I heard him groan and as the kiss got deeper, his fingers continued to flick lightly across my nipples.

Finally, I broke the kiss. “Alistair…” I whispered breathlessly. He slowly stood up, and gently pulled down the pants he had still been wearing. Then he removed his braies. The sight before me then was wondrous… and a little daunting. Alistair was very well-endowed. There had only been one other man I'd seen naked before and he was small compared to what I was facing now. I was a little hesitant - but aroused all the same. I had never done what I was suddenly thinking, but ever since I’d heard some of my old mage girlfriends talk about how it made the men they’d been with feel… I had to admit I’d always wanted to try it.

I knelt on the settee to give me better access, and gently grasped his cock. He hissed an oath. Clearly just having me touch it was enjoyable for him. I moved my hand slowly up and down his shaft. His breath hitched and his eyes closed in bliss. I licked my lips, and then used the tip of my tongue to lick the crown. His eyes opened in shock and awe.

His taste was divine. I slowly fed him into my mouth. I swirled my tongue around and slowly began sucking, lightly at first but quickly got bolder as he groaned in pleasure.

“Maker! Ah, Kylara!” he cried out. “Never dreamed… this was possible!”

I moved my mouth and hand faster. His groans got louder. I could feel him tensing up. “Ky-Kylara…” he warned, “I-I feel… I am about to…”

I only increased my rhythm. He cried out as he began to come. It shot across my tongue and down my throat, hot and thick. I swallowed every last bit. Then I gave him one final loving lick and gently released him.

His breaths were still coming fast and his eyes were closed. Slowly he opened them and looked down at me. They were glowing brightly at me. He then reached down and scooped me into his arms.

He carried me a short distance to the soft fur rug in front of the hearth. Even though there was a bed in the room, he lay me down there. He lay beside me, gazing at me with pure desire. Despite having just come, he was hard as a rock again. He used his free hand to caress my breasts again, gently tweaking my nipples. I cried out. He leaned over and began kissing my breasts again. His hand then began to trail lower… and lower.

“I… I want to… touch you,” he whispered. “May I?”

I nodded and his fingers caressed my sex ever so slowly. I moaned, it felt so heavenly.

“You are so soft and silky.” He closed his lips around my breast and sucked on my nipple again as one of his fingers then gave a light touch to my clitoris.

My cry of pleasure gave him even more courage and he began caressing me faster. Then I felt his finger gently stroking my entrance. I let my legs fall open wider. “Maker,” he groaned, “You are so very hot and slick. I-it feels… so… so different.”

I smiled gently. "It feels good to you?”

“Yes,” he sighed. “ **Very** good.” He stroked it slowly again. “I'd like to… try something, if I may?”

I nodded and then I felt his finger enter me. I moaned loudly and he began to stroke me inside. He brushed his thumb softly against my clitoris again. My cries got louder. I knew I was getting close. I then gasped as he inserted a second finger. He moved faster and faster. Then he clamped his teeth on my nipple very lightly as his thumb pressed against my clit at the same time.

My back arched off of the floor as the orgasm ripped through me. I screamed his name. Even though we were in the privacy of my room, I was sure someone would hear me, and I didn’t care. Slowly I started coming back to myself. Alistair was now face-to-face above me. I could feel his cock pressing against my entrance.

“Are you… ready for me… to…” he asked softly.

“Yes, Oh, yes, Alistair. I want you so much.”

I kissed him. Our tongues danced in each other's mouths. He gently pushed and I felt him enter me. “Ah! Oh, Maker!” I heard him murmur. “T-this feels… so good!”

I brought my knees up and he pushed in a little further. He met some resistance and stopped.

“I…” he seemed to have a difficult time talking, but finally voiced his concern. “I am not too big, am I?”

“We just need to go slow… Let me get used to… you,” I whispered. Had I not told him that I was also a virgin? If that was the case, it was a little too late now… I no longer cared. I wanted him. Every last glorious bit of him.

He pushed in a little further. I had a little bit of pain, but it wasn’t bad. He then pulled out, and then went back in. Each time he went in a little deeper. He seemed to be having a hard time controlling himself because, with each thrust, he was pushing a bit harder.

“C-can’t… hold back… much longer,” he gasped. He then thrust hard a final time, burying himself all the way inside of me, and I cried out. At first, there was some pain, but it slowly ebbed into pleasure and I felt myself orgasming against his cock.

“Oh! Oohh!” he groaned as he felt my insides squeezing and contracting again and again. “I-I…” His breath was hot and desperate against my skin. “I need more of that!” He began to move over me, slow at first, then faster and faster until we reached a pounding rhythm.

Sweat glistened on our bodies. His crisp chest hair brushed against my breasts with each thrust. His strength was incredible! I could feel another orgasm building and building until finally, he had me screaming his name again. His whole body then tensed as my insides gripped his cock tight. I raked my nails down his back and he cried out. His own orgasm came in a fierce, hot rush and I squeezed him even tighter. He yelled out my name as he came. On and on it went. I could feel it inside, giving me so much pleasure.

Slowly I came back to reality. His body had collapsed onto mine, but it wasn’t uncomfortable at all. It just felt… right. He was still slowly thrusting into me, moaning my name.

Finally, he slowly, almost reluctantly, pulled out and rolled off of me.

“Maker’s Mercy…” he breathed as he lay on his back. He then slowly rolled to his side to face me. “You were right. That was… incredible. Never knew what I was missing until now.” A sly grin came to his gorgeous lips. “Oh, I am such a bad, bad man…”

I rolled over as well to face him. “Not for that performance, you’re not,” I breathed. “You’re sure you were a virgin?”

He chuckled lightly. “What can I say. I have a very… active imagination.” He cleared his throat lightly and said, “You realize that even though we had the luxury of a private room here, I am sure we were probably overheard. I am sure there will be talk.”

“First smart-ass comment someone makes, I’ll feed them to the darkspawn myself,” I said with my own smile, and he laughed.

I started tracing my nails across his chest again. His eyes closed and it almost felt like he was purring. My hand went lower. Much to my surprise and delight, it seemed Alistair was raring to go again.

My eyes met his. There was an impish grin on his face and his eyes twinkled.

“Looks like it’s going to be a long night,” I whispered breathlessly.

“Oh… yeah,” he whispered back as his lips closed over mine.

 

Hours later, an exhausted Alistair was asleep. We had finally made it to the bed after many rounds of lovemaking all over the room. As he faced me, his arms around me, I gazed at his sleeping form and felt a peace that I had never known that had been missing from my life. I never wanted this to end, but one thought did trouble me. Alistair was the prince. Even though he kept saying that he didn’t want the throne, there was a feeling in me that was saying it would probably not work out that way. Alistair said he loved me, but I was not of noble blood. If Alistair did become the King…

“Mmm, Kylara…love… you,” Alistair murmured in his sleep.

I sighed. I guess we would just deal with whatever came up in the future, For the moment, I would enjoy what Alistair and I had together.

“I love you too, Alistair,” I whispered and drifted off, content in his arms.

 

I awoke to an urgent knocking on my door. Blearily, I opened my eyes. Alistair was still curled up next to me. The knocking got louder.

“I’m up, I’m up,” I said, hopefully loud enough. “Just give me a moment.” I untangled myself from Alistair’s arms and got up. I quickly slipped on my nightgown and then a larger dressing gown to cover myself better.

I walked over to the door and opened it. It was Teagan. “Sorry to disturb you, my Lady, but my brother is awake and he wants to confront the prisoner now. He would appreciate it if you and Alistair could bring Jowan up to the audience chamber. Will you go and find Alistair? I stopped by his room and he wasn't there.”

“Um, sure. Let me get dressed and I will go and get him. We’ll bring Jowan to the arl.” I said.

“Very well, my Lady. We will see you soon.”

I closed the door and turned to find Alistair awake and sitting on the edge of the bed giving me a huge grin. I couldn’t help but smile back. “Well, seems like so far, no one has noticed our little escapade.” He got up and walked over to me, still gloriously naked.

“So…” I drawled in a sexy tone. “Was this the reason you came here last night with no boots on?”

“Ah, busted,” he replied with a grin. “Let's just say I had… hopes… that my dream would come true.” He pulled me into his arms and kissed me deeply.

I moaned and brought my arms up to stroke his back as he kissed me.

“Hmmm…” he said after breaking the kiss off. “Sounds like you might want a little something else from me, this morning?”

I reached down and gripped his hard cock with my soft hand. He groaned as I silkily said, “…and you don’t?”

“Well, I suppose if we’re quick about it…” he murmured as his eyes began their golden glow.

“As tempting as that may be,” I sighed as I released him, “we do have something else we need to take care of. We shouldn’t keep Arl Eamon waiting.”

Alistair kissed me again. “Hmm, so practical. That is what I love about you.” He reluctantly let me go and walked over to where his clothes still lay on the floor. He pulled them on quickly, hissing slightly as he had to adjust his still rampant erection. “I’d better head back to my room and get my armor on as well. I don’t expect to have any trouble with the prisoner, but better safe than sorry.”

I nodded and said, “I’ll meet you at the dungeon entrance.”

He opened the door slightly and peeked in both directions. “Coast is clear,” he said as he slipped out. “See you soon.”

 

Fifteen minutes later, we were both walking down to the dungeon where Jowan was being held. As we approached his cell, we could see him lying on his cot. Time in this cell had not been kind to Jowan. He was gaunt and his face now had a scraggly beard. He had discarded his stained and torn robe a while back and now just wore a simple pair of breeches.

I banged on the bars of the cell with my staff. “Get up, Jowan! Arl Eamon wants to see you now!”

“Well, lookie here,” he said sarcastically as he got up. “My former friend comes down to grace me with her righteous Grey Warden presence. You must forgive me if I don’t greet you cheerily, but some of us didn’t get much sleep last night, you know.”

“If you are complaining about the cramped conditions of your cell, well you have no one to blame but yourself for your current… accommodations,” Alistair smirked.

“Oh, no. It’s not the cell.” Jowan scowled. “It was the unholy amount of noise coming from above me last night. Hours and hours of it…”

My face flamed red when I realized that my room lay directly above Jowan’s cell.

“Ah, Alistair! Oh! Give it to me!” Jowan said in a high-pitched, mocking voice. “Really, Kylara… you have no shame!”

“Shut up, Jowan!” I threatened.

“Or what? If you think you can bring me any lower then you are sadly mistaken!” His look turned shrewd. “Perhaps you ought to be brought down a peg or two yourself? Tell me, my sweet… does your new lover here know about us? Have you told him about what the two of us did together in that closet in the Tower that one dark and stormy evening? Hmm?”

“Kylara? What is he talking about?” Alistair looked surprised… and a little hurt.

I turned to him. “Don’t listen to him, he is lying! There was nothing between us!”

“Oh really? Should I tell him about the little birthmark under your right breast? How about the time you kissed me while stroking my cock, and I fondled those beautiful breasts of yours?”

Alistair had turned as white as a sheet. I quickly cast a paralyze spell on Jowan. He immediately froze. I turned back to Alistair. “He’s telling you this to turn you against me. Don’t listen to him,” I pleaded.

“But… you **do** have a birthmark under your right breast.” Alistair’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What else have you not told me about your past Kylara? First Cullen, and now, a blood mage?” He shook his head and started backing away from me. “I-I need to get some fresh air.” He gave me an angry look, turned and ran out of the dungeon.

“Alistair! Wait!” I cried out, but he was long gone. Tears began to pour from my eyes and I fell to my knees. Without my concentration, the paralyze spell wore off.

“Oh ho! Poor little Kylara…” Jowan laughed. “Did your new lover run off? Gee, I wonder why?”

I quickly got up and cast the binding spell around Jowan’s hands, forcing them behind his back. I then opened the cell and slapped him hard across his face. “You are despicable, Jowan! I hate you!”

He spat in my face. I wiped it off, and grabbed his bound arms, forcing him to march up the stairs. “I hope you get a slow and painful death,” I said angrily. “You deserve nothing less for all the hurt and pain you have caused!”

 

I brought Jowan before Arl Eamon, Bann Teagan, Lady Isolde, and numerous armed guards. Morrigan and Leliana were also present.

Bann Teagan whispered to me, “Where is Alistair?”

I swallowed a hard lump. “H-he’s not coming.” I heard Jowan snigger. I kicked him hard from behind, and he fell to his knees. Teagan gave me an odd look as Arl Eamon cleared his throat and began.

“Jowan, you are hereby accused of crimes against me and my family. Do you deny that you set out to poison me under Teryn Loghain’s orders?”

Jowan remained silent.

“Let it stand that the accused did not deny this charge.” the arl said.

“So noted,” Teagan replied.

“You are also hereby accused of summoning a demon into my son,” the arl growled. What say you?”

Jowan looked at everyone in the room. Chin raised, he said, “I have said it before. This I did not do. Connor summoned the demon into himself.”

Isolde ran forward and slapped Jowan across his face. “And you are still a liar!” she cried out.

“Isolde! Please. Let me handle this,” Eamon snapped. Isolde backed off, glared at Jowan and then stalked out of the room.

Eamon shook his head, and the turned back to Jowan. “It also was brought to my attention that you have admitted to being a blood mage. While I am not a mage myself, or a Templar, you should know that type of magic is forbidden. What do you say to this?”

Jowan struggled to get to his feet, which was difficult since his hands were bound behind him, but he managed. He looked at Arl Eamon, “Yes. I have something to say.” Then he turned to face me. “Saorsa dhomhsa!” <Freedom for me!> he shouted. Immediately his hands were free. Before I could react, he took his ragged fingernails and scratched a long gash into the skin of his bare chest. With his blood on his fingers, he shoved his hand into my surprised open mouth and yelled, “Bidh mi a 'puinnseanachadh do fhuil!” <I poison your blood!> I fell to the ground and began to choke.

Jowan turned and ran from the audience hall and out the front doors of the estate. Guards gave chase, but their heavy plate armor slowed them down. Leliana, being more agile, also ran after the fleeing Jowan. She burst outside of the estate, but Jowan was already on the bridge crossing the lake. Leliana drew her longbow, aimed, and released. Her arrow was true. It pierced Jowan in the back, going through his heart. He stumbled and fell off the bridge, dropping a hundred meters into Lake Calenhad below.

Alistair had been outside the estate and saw the whole thing happen. He ran up to Leliana. “What in the void just happened?” he yelled.

Morrigan then ran outside of the estate as well. “You both may want to get back inside quickly! Kylara is… dying…”

 

Alistair, Leliana, and Morrigan ran back into the estate. Teagan was holding my head sideways to try and prevent me from choking on the blood that was coming from my mouth.

Alistair quickly ran over to me, terror on his face. He took me from Teagan and cradled me in his arms. “Someone, get Wynne!” he shouted. In a panicked voice, he asked Teagan, “What happened?!”

Teagan swallowed nervously, “My brother… He was questioning Jowan… and somehow, he got himself free! Did some kind of filthy blood ritual on her!”

Wynne ran into the room. “Alistair? What happened?” She then saw me. “Oh, Maker, Kylara!” She ran up to me and immediately started casting a healing spell. It had no effect.

Alistair was shaking as he held onto me. Blood was now coming out of my nose and eyes as well. “Why is it not working, Wynne?!”

“I-I don’t know! I… I’ve never seen magic like this!” She tried a stronger spell. Still nothing.

Morrigan ran up to Alistair and Wynne. “He has poisoned her blood with his own. Simple healing will not cure her!”

“Then what do we do?!” Alistair was close to hysterics.

“We need the man who cast the spell!”

Leliana’s face fell in horror. “I-I killed him. His body fell off the bridge into the lake.”

My eyes rolled back into my head and I started convulsing. “Damn it all!! Someone do SOMETHING!” Alistair screamed.

Morrigan ran into the kitchen of the arl’s estate. To the nearest servant, she yelled, “Glass! Flask! Some kind of container, NOW!” The elf servant quickly fetched her a corked decanter.

Morrigan then ran back out to Wynne. “Keep casting your healing magic, Wynne!”

“But you said it won’t do anything!” Wynne was in tears.

“’Twill keep her from getting any worse!” Morrigan stated firmly. “I will be back swiftly!” She ran outside.

Once out of the estate, Morrigan called upon her shapeshifting magic and turned herself into a giant hawk. She grabbed the decanter in her talons and flew off the bridge. Scanning around with her sharp eyesight, she found the remains of Jowan’s smashed body on some rocks at the edge of the lake. She turned back into her human form and said, “Fuil nam marbh, thig!” <Blood of the dead, come!> Some of Jowan’s blood flowed off the rocks, into the air, and into the decanter. She then sealed it shut with the cork, transformed back into her hawk form, and flew back to the estate.

Back in her human form again, she ran back inside, through the kitchen and into her small guest room. She set the decanter down on a table, grabbed her satchel of herbs, and then began to mix an antidote. Precious minutes kept ticking away. Finally, she ran back out to the audience hall.

Alistair, Wynne, Leliana, Teagan, and Arl Eamon were all gathered around me as Morrigan approached. Everyone was in tears.

“Y-you’re too… late,” Alistair sobbed as he rocked my body. “She’s… gone. She isn’t breathing.”

Morrigan looked at my still form. Blood still made gruesome tracks from my eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. My lips were blue. “Alistair,” she said in an urgent voice. “She isn’t gone, not yet. But we must act swiftly. Please bring her to her room. Wynne, I will need you too.” She started to head to my room. “Please, be quick,” she said a bit more forcefully when they didn’t immediately move.

Both Wynne and Alistair looked at each other with curiosity, and maybe a shred of hope. He picked me up and carried me gently, following Morrigan. Wynne came right after.

“What do you intend to do, Morrigan?” Wynne asked as Alistair lay my body on the bed. “No one can bring back the dead.”

“’Tis as I told you, she is not dead yet. The poison is blocking her ability to breathe. This is why we must hurry. Too much longer and we will lose her.” She uncorked the decanter and then said, “Wynne, I will be performing a… ritual to draw out the poison. I need you to channel your strongest healing spell.”

Wynne nodded and began to chant softly. Her hand glowed with a soft blue-white light. She placed her hands on my head.

Morrigan dropped some of the potion into my ears, eyes, and nose, then poured the rest into my mouth. She then began to move slowly and chant:

 

Bidh mi a 'cleachdadh an leigheis fuil seo gus an truailleadh seo a leigheas.

<I use this blood medicine to cure this pollution.>

Cuir às don phuinnsean seo.

<Remove this poison.>

Slànachadh airson a 'bhodhaig seo.

<Healing for this body.>

Fuil bho bhàs, fuil airson beatha.

<Blood from death, blood for life.>

 

Bho bhàs, beatha!

<From death, life!>

 

A red mist rose from my skin. Morrigan directed it into the fireplace. The mist started burning away.

“W-what are you doing?” Alistair asked worriedly.

“Drawing out… the poison,” Morrigan said through gritted teeth. “If you want her back… I must concentrate.”

Minutes later, Morrigan gasped and then fell to her knees. After a few seconds, she got back up. I drew in a ragged breath and then began coughing. Then I went still again. “It is done,” Morrigan said.

“She… will be all right?” Alistair asked.

“She needs to heal. She will sleep for a while,” Morrigan said. “Give it some time.”

“I will stay in here with her,” Alistair said. “Wynne, please let the others know that… she is alive.”

Wynne nodded and left.

Morrigan turned and started to leave the room as well.

“Morrigan?” Alistair called out.

She turned. “What?”

“Thank you… for saving her,” he said simply.

Morrigan just nodded and then left the room.

 

Alistair pulled up a chair next to the bed where I lay sleeping. He sat down, closed his eyes and held my hand softly.

“I-I am so sorry, Kylara,” he said quietly, his breath hitching. “You told me not to listen to that bastard… and I did. I should never have left you to deal with him on your own. My **stupid** … jealous behavior nearly cost me dearly. I almost lost you! Had it not been for Morrigan… I can only hope you will forgive me…”

 

Teagan, Lady Isolde, and Arl Eamon were ecstatic to hear that I had been cured of the blood poisoning. Leliana and Zevran both had tears in their eyes when they too, got the news. Wynne had not gone into too much detail about what exactly had happened in the bedroom but did give Morrigan the credit for healing me.

Zevran had been with Sten in the town of Redcliffe below, and both hadn’t heard about what had happened until recently.

“I just wish I had been here when it happened. I would have sliced the bastard from neck to navel,” he said. “Too bad you had all the fun in killing him, my dear Leliana.”

Leliana sighed and shook her head at Zevran’s comment.

Sten, his usual stoic self, didn’t show much emotion, but he was glad to hear that I was alive.

They all had asked to see me, but Wynne told them I had to rest.

“Alistair is keeping watch over her,” she said. “He will let us know when she wakes.”

After giving them all the news, Wynne went outside. She found Morrigan standing outside close to the bridge, staring at Redcliffe village below.

“Morrigan? May I have a word with you?” Wynne asked as she approached the bridge.

“Am I going to like what you have to say?”

“That depends,” Wynne replied slowly. She stopped and stood next to Morrigan. A breeze ruffled their hair. Wynne sighed and said, “I know that was blood magic that you used today.”

Morrigan stiffened but said nothing.

“I know you are aware of my thoughts on blood magic, especially given the recent events that had happened at the Circle Tower. Also, we saw what harm it caused the hands of the maleficar, Jowan.”

“So I take it you now want to turn me over to the Templars?” Morrigan snapped, still not facing Wynne.

“No.”

Now Morrigan did turn to face her. “What?”

“I said, ‘no’. I will not be ‘turning you in’ or some such nonsense.” Wynne said. “It seems my narrow-minded view of the uses of old magic was wrong… and I wanted to apologize to you for some of the things I have said to you in the past.”

Morrigan stared at Wynne in stunned silence.

“If it had not been for that… ritual of yours. We would have lost someone important to us all. So I came out here to… thank you. What you did for Kylara… and for all of us.”

Morrigan didn’t know what to say. She looked down at the ground, then back up at Wynne. She nodded once, then turned back to stare out at the town.

Wynne gently touched Morrigan’s shoulder, then turned and went back inside.

Morrigan was glad that Wynne had left… so that she wouldn’t see the tears that now flowed from her eyes.

 

Hours later, I slowly opened my eyes. My head was pounding with a massive headache. I groaned and slowly sat up… I was on my bed? I saw a sleeping Alistair, sitting on a chair next to my bed; his head resting on the bed near my hand. What had happened to me? I couldn’t remember.

“Alistair?” I gently shook him. He slowly opened his eyes at first, then sat up quickly.

“Kylara? Oh, thank The Maker! You are all right!” He got off the chair, scooped me into his arms, hugged me tightly to his chest, and sobbed with relief. Then he set me gently on my feet.

“I… don’t remember anything. What happened to me? Why was I in bed?”

Alistair debated on what he should say to me but finally decided to tell me the whole truth.

By the end of it, I was in tears.

“Morrigan… saved me? From dying?” Alistair nodded, also near tears.

“I don’t know exactly what she did, but she somehow drew the poison out of your body. She then sent it into the fireplace and burned it away.”

“I still can’t believe that Jowan actually tried to kill me… and he is now dead?”

Alistair nodded. “After he ran out of the castle, Leliana was able to catch up to him and shot him with her bow. He’s gone now.”

I sighed and nodded. “How far he fell.”

Alistair misunderstood me. “Well, he fell off the bridge…”

I shook my head. “No, I meant… He was once my friend. Part of me doesn’t understand why he changed. But it must be my fault. All of it.” Alistair started to protest, but again I shook my head. “I need to tell you the whole story. About Jowan… and me. But, I need to sit, please. I am still so exhausted.”

“Of course,” Alistair said. He gently lifted me up and sat me on the edge of the bed. He then leaned up against it next to me.

“I first met Jowan when he was ten, and I was eight…” I began.

 

“… and when he found out that I had betrayed him, he cast horrible blood spell that knocked out Greagoir, several Templars, and the First Enchanter. Lily was horrified to find out the man she loved was a blood mage, so she shunned him.” I took a deep breath and finished by saying, “Jowan lost everything he had cared about that night. The woman he loved, his place in the Circle… he truly hated me that night.”

“But how is this your fault?” Alistair asked. “You were only doing what Irving told you to do, and expose his relationship with someone he was not supposed to be with.”

“But all the choices Jowan made since that night… it put him on a path of darkness,” I said.

“He had been dabbling in blood magic, that already put him on a dark path. He would have been caught sooner or later.”

“Maybe, if I hadn’t turned him in to the First Enchanter… perhaps I should have just let him escape and be happy with Lily. I guess… I may have been jealous. Jealous that he had somehow found someone to care for… and it wasn’t me.”

“So you did like him?” Alistair asked.

“I… did.” I sighed. “He and I had always been close since I had met him at such a young age. But I guess he felt more… brotherly towards me, rather than liking me romantically.”

“What about that night he was talking about?”

“I was fifteen, and he was seventeen. We just decided to try some stuff… to see if anything became of it. We kissed and touched each other… But afterwards, it just felt awkward. He drifted apart from me… so there really was nothing between us.”

Alistair just nodded.

“Shortly after that, he found Lily and I should have been happy for him, but I think my jealousy ended making me hate him towards the end. Perhaps that was why I was so eager to expose their forbidden relationship.”

“And what about Cullen?”

“Cullen was just a friend to me. He was nice to all of us apprentice mages, letting us play pranks, and joking around with us. One night, he covered up for me, when a prank went a little too far, so I kissed him on the cheek afterwards in thanks. I had no idea that it made him have… feelings about me.

“His torture at Uldred’s hands just made it worse in his mind then,” Alistair said.

“I suppose it must have. I never meant to hurt him… and now he hates me… ” Tears welled up in my eyes.

“I am sure that given time, his anger will cool,” Alistair said wisely.

I sighed and then asked nervously, “So, now what? Where does this leave… us?”

Alistair turned to face me. “What are you talking about?”

“I wouldn’t blame you… if you wanted to… forget – ”

He cupped my face in his hands and started kissing me passionately, I moaned and began kissing him back. Was this way of saying he did still have feelings for me? I reached up and put my arms around him to pull him closer to me.

He paused his kiss briefly to say, “I love you, Kylara. No matter what happened in the past, no matter what comes in our future. You are the only one I want…” Then he began taking off his armor.

I slid off of the bed and began to unfasten the binding on my mage robe. Once done I slipped it off, then removed my underclothing. I sat back on the edge of the bed, naked and trembling.

Alistair finally removed the last of his armor, and then quickly pulled off his clothes as well. He quickly came up to me and embraced me eagerly. He rained small kisses all over my face and neck. His hands grasped my breasts and he fondled them tenderly.

I stroked him lightly with my fingers, my hands going lower until I touched his shaft. I positioned him and guided him into me.

“Ah!” he cried out, and immediately began thrusting gently. “You feel… so amazing,” he cried out as he moved harder and faster. He began kissing me again, his tongue sensuously rubbing against mine.

I groaned and wrapped my legs around him pulling him into me deeper. I would never get enough of what he had to give. I wanted to be with Alistair… always.

 

Leliana and Zevran were walking down the hall towards my room, with Wynne following.

“I told you,” she scolded them, “we need to give her time! She is resting!”

“I understand Wynne,” Leliana said, “but I want to check anyway – ” She stopped short. Zevran and Wynne both bumped into her. “Oh, my…” Leliana said and smiled.

“What?” Zevran began to say, then he too, heard what Leliana had. He chuckled. “Seems to me like our Warden friends are doing just fine!”

Wynne heard it too and immediately blushed bright red at the sounds of pleasure coming from behind my closed door. “Well now, that was… unexpected,” she mumbled. She then grabbed both Leliana and Zevran and began pulling them away from my door. “Come now. Let’s give them… some privacy.”

Both Leliana and Zevran were still laughing as Wynne ushered them away.

 


	18. Secrets Revealed and Traveling to Rainesfere (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alistair's secret is revealed! Later the group finds themselves on the road again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** Mature Content Ahead **
> 
> Art of Mabari Kiss kindly borrowed with permission from http://laurlaurrdraws.tumblr.com/ (Thanks!)

Morning arrived. I woke up in Alistair’s embrace again. I sighed contentedly and thought, _I could get used to this._ I yawned and stretched. Alistair was still sleeping. I had already awoken him with a kiss once… _I wonder how he’d feel if I woke him with…_

A wicked grin came to my face. I moved down on the bed slightly and gently began kissing and stroking his thighs. He shifted in his sleep and I was rewarded with him coming to full glorious attention. Licking my lips, I placed soft kisses against his shaft. He groaned, but his eyes were still closed. _He probably thinks he’s dreaming about it_. I giggled quietly. I ran my tongue along his length and then kissed the crown.

“Ah, mmm…” he murmured. He slowly opened his eyes as I kept kissing and licking teasingly. “Are you… doing what I think?” I nodded and continued my ministrations. His eyes closed blissfully and he hissed, “For all the love of… Maker’s sake… don’t stop!”

I took him into my mouth fully. Nipping, licking, sucking, teasing… I paused only for a moment to whisper, “Alistair, I love how you taste.” Then I took him back into my mouth.

He moaned louder and fisted the sheets in hands. His breaths were getting faster. “Getting close now,” he panted. “Going to… Ah!”

I stopped, withdrew, and quickly pinched him just below the head to stop him from coming.

He bellowed as he orgasmed without spilling his seed. His hips bucked up wildly, but I held fast. When the sensation had passed, I let go gently.

“Maker’s Breath!” he exclaimed. “What… did you just do?”

“Shh…” I put my finger to his lips. "Something I read in a book a while back. Interesting to see it worked," I said softly and gave him a sly smile. I moved up his thighs until I was aligned properly. Then I used my hand to position him and slowly made him slide into me.

“Unh… Oh!” He gripped my hips as I gently rolled them back and forth. “Sweet mother, the things you do to me…” he groaned.

I threw my head back. “You’re inside me, so deep!” I reached up and caressed my breasts. “I love how you fill me. You feel so good!”

“And you feel like warm silk,” he breathed. “How have I ever lived without this? Without **you**?” He reached up and pulled me down so he could kiss me. I also felt him shift as he brought his knees up. He then moved his hips upwards, thrusting into me slowly. “I love being inside of you.”

“Ah, Alistair,” I moaned. “I want… I need more of that, please.”

He said nothing in response. He just captured my lips against his again as he moved harder and faster. My cries of pleasure were drowned in his deep kisses. The only sounds were the rustling of the sheets, the movement of the two of us together, and occasional whispers of “More!” and “Please!” building until at last I shattered. To muffle my screams, I gently bit the muscle between his neck and shoulder.

He jerked spasmodically as his own pleasure reached its climax. Finally coming down, we lay there panting for a while. I was still lying on top of him. He placed soft kisses on my lips and then his eyes, glowing bright gold, gazed into mine.

“Now **that** is the perfect way to begin the day,” he murmured. “No one has ever made me feel this way before. I wasn’t sure it could happen…” He sighed in contentment and then said, “You are the first woman I’ve ever spent the night with… and if I have my way, you will be the last.”

My heart melted at his declaration and my lips met his. “I love you, Alistair,” I whispered.

“And I love you.” He kissed me again. “But…”

“But what?”

“Well, ah, I think we should probably get up now. I suppose we need to make an appearance to the rest of our group to let them know you are all right.”

I gave an over-exaggerated pout. “But you are so comfortable, warm, and…” My hand reached down to grasp him gently. “eager.”

“Maker knows I would so **very** much love to do that… again,” he said with a huge grin, but if we don’t come out of this room soon, they might just beat down your door! As far as I am aware, they don’t know about us yet.”

“I don’t care… Let them talk,” I said in mock defiance.

He chuckled. “Oh sure, you say that now, but by tomorrow it’ll be all icy glares and awkward silences right before battle!”

I sighed deeply. “Very well, I suppose you are right.” I slid off of him and off the bed. I sauntered over to the dresser where the basin and water pitcher had been left. 

As I used a damp cloth to clean myself up, I heard a growl from behind me. “Damn, woman… must you sway that gorgeous behind of yours like that?”

I turned slowly to face him. He was still lying on the bed and he was lazily stroking himself. “Excuse me?” I said teasingly, hands on my hips. “What, pray tell, are you doing? I thought you said we needed to get up!”

“Well,” he drawled. “That was before a certain naughty mage decided to ruthlessly tease me with her sensuous hips undulating just so…”

“Is that right?” I grinned. “And just what else did the naughty mage do?”

“Ah, screw getting up! Get back over here and I’ll show you…”

 

Leliana walked back into the dining area where the everyone was having breakfast. She sat down next to Zevran in silence.

“Are they still…” he whispered to her.

She nodded.

Zevran laughed lightly. “Damn, and here I thought **I** had endurance! Those two are putting me to shame for certain!”

Morrigan, who had been eating some tart citrus wedges while flipping through her mother’s grimoire, overheard. “What are you going on about, Zevran?” she asked.

“Our two fellow Wardens. They’ve been at it since late last night.”

“At what, precisely?”

“You don’t know? Well, you have had your cute little nose stuck in that big book for some time,” Zevran chuckled.

“Last I knew, Kylara was resting and Alistair watching over her.” Morrigan frowned. “Is there something I should know?”

“Oh, Alistair has been doing a bit more than just watching! Let’s see. How else can I phrase it? Aggressive cuddling? Dancing in the sheets? Pondering the unicorn? Tickling her tummy from the inside?”

Wynne choked on her kafija and coughed. “Zevran! Must you really go on and on about such things? And at breakfast, no less!”

“I’ve lost my appetite,” Sten muttered and got up from the table. He grabbed his sword and stalked outside.

Morrigan finally put two and two together and her face flamed red. “I… Oh…” She put down her book. “I don’t know if I should be happy for her… or sick to my stomach,” she muttered.

 

Eventually, hunger for more than caboodling with Alistair **7** drove us from my guest room. We made our way discretely down to the bathing chambers in the castle to clean up. Of course, it was impossible to keep our hands off each other while washing up, but we did the best we could. We got dressed in the clothes we had brought down with us, then headed back upstairs to the kitchens. One nice servant made us a platter of food, which I carried out to the dining area.

We sat down and fed each other. There was an assortment of fruits, some sliced meats, and cheese. Alistair tried to get me to try some of the cheese, but my nose wrinkled at the smell.

“You’re welcome to that!” I said. “Ugh, how can you eat that stuff? It stinks!”

“It’s delicious!” he said with his mouth full. “You don’t know what you’re missing!”

Just then everyone walked into the dining room. Wynne spoke first. “Well, looks like they finally decided to join us!”

“Ah, I was really tired. I just needed a lot of rest,” I said, hoping I wasn’t blushing.

“Seems to me our lovely Knight has put the King in check…” Zevran smirked as he winked at me.

Alistair went pale for a moment. “Wait, who told you they were going to make me King?”

Everyone went silent, mouths open in shock. Wynne seemed to recover first. “Alistair, dear, what do you mean ‘they are making you King?’”

I nudged him and whispered, “I think Zev was referring to us, you know, being together. Not your pending… kingship.”

“Oh,” was all he could manage for a moment. Then he muttered, “Shit…”

“Well, guess the secret is out now. Might as well tell them,” I said with a sigh.

“I can explain, if you like,” Arl Eamon said as he walked into the room. To the rest of our group, he said, “King Maric was Alistair’s father. I plan to put him forward as the heir in order to challenge Loghain’s claim to the throne. We must do this to unite all of Ferelden so that we can battle the true enemy, the darkspawn.”

Zevran walked up to Alistair, slapped him on the back, and grinned. “Felicitations! Hey Alistair, did you know Antiva has a long tradition of royal bastards?”

“You don't say?” he muttered.

“Oh, yes,” Zevran nodded. “They've led wars to claim the throne. Some of them have become kings. In fact, I'd say the current royal line in Antiva stems from bastard blood several times over. Sadly, whenever a royal bastard rears their head in public and declares themselves, it often goes poorly for them…”

“Let me guess, they get assassinated?” He pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingertips. “Well, then I’ve already set a precedence! I’ve had two assassination attempts on me _…_ and that was **before** I was even announced as the royal bastard to the Ferelden throne.” Alistair closed his eyes and sighed. He then got up from the table. “I need some time alone, please.” He left the room.

“What’s his deal?” Morrigan asked.

“He doesn’t want to be King,” I said quietly, “but he also knows that he doesn’t really have a choice in the matter.”

Eamon nodded. “I know he isn’t comfortable with this, but as I said to him earlier, if he doesn’t step forward and challenge Loghain, then I will have to support Loghain in order to unite all of Ferelden.”

“And that is out of the question,” Wynne murmured.

Eamon looked up at her. “I know why the Wardens do not want Loghain in charge. If you don’t mind me asking, why are you against him?”

“I too, was at Ostagar when Loghain pulled his troops. I had been tending the wounded and barely managed to escape before the darkspawn overwhelmed the area. But that wasn’t the worst of it! Loghain had promised his support to one of our other senior mages and that man – Uldred – nearly destroyed the Circle Tower with his mad plans. He was summoning demons and trying to turn all of the mages into abominations! Greagoir had called for the Right of Annulment. If it hadn’t been for Kylara and her friends, the Circle would be no more.”

“Well now, you have been busy, young lady.” Eamon beamed at me, but then turned serious again. “As his friends, I really need you to try and rally Alistair to accept his role. I need to start getting things ready on my end for the Landsmeet. In the meantime, I had suggested to Warden Kylara here, that you all go and get the other two treaties taken care of. The Dwarves of Orzammar are probably the closest.”

Just then Teagan walked in. “If you are heading that way, you are welcome to also stop in my village of Rainesfere to stock up on any supplies. I will be heading back there myself, in a few days, now that things are under control here. Eamon and I will provide horses for all of you to make the journey easier.”

“Thank you, both of you,” I said. “I suppose we will head out in the morning then.”

Eamon nodded. “A sound plan then. However, do remember you are all welcome to stay here any time you like.”

 

As we headed out of the dining area, Leliana stopped me. “Do you want me to try and talk to Alistair? Perhaps I can help his situation?”

“I don’t know. You can try, but I think it may just take more time.”

She put a gentle hand on my shoulder and then went to go find Alistair.

 

She found him pacing outside near the bridge. He saw her and stopped. “Oh, hey Leliana. What do you need?”

“I just wanted to talk with you briefly.” She smiled at him. “You know, there are many great tales of lost kings who return to their lands to reign in glory…”

Alistair sighed again. “I am not lost. Nor, for that matter, a King. And there is nothing glorious about me.”

“You are Maric's son. This makes you are the rightful King of Ferelden.”

“I am the son of a star-struck maid and an indiscreet man who just happened to be King,” he replied darkly. “Look, I can't be King. Some days I have trouble figuring out which boot goes on which foot!”

“Complete fools are made leaders of kingdoms all the time,” she said quietly. You're not a fool.”

“What an utter relief to know I am not a fool…at least in your eyes,” he muttered.

“I am not the only one who thinks that and you know it. What about your love, Kylara?”

He blushed. “How long have you known?”

She chuckled - a throaty sound - and said, “Since last night. I came to check on her, Wynne and Zevran were with me. We, ah, overheard just a bit.”

“Just a bit…” he repeated, blushing even more.

“Don’t be embarrassed. I think it’s wonderful that you two finally are together. I think you were made for each other.”

“Yet, therein lies the problem.” Alistair’s hands gripped the short wall near the bridge. “I kept hoping and wishing throughout the night that there was a way out of this ‘King’ situation. If I am made the King, I’d have to give her up… and I don’t know if I could do that.”

Leliana’s mouth opened in a small ‘o’ shape. “Does Kylara know about this?”

“I am sure she knows. She’s smart. She will have come to the same conclusion as me.”

“Is there any alternative?” she asked quietly.

“Oh, sure. Let’s leave Loghain in power. That will definitely be better,” Alistair replied, the sarcasm thick in his voice.

“Can’t we somehow depose him and leave Anora as Queen?”

“Not sure I trust her any more than her father, to be honest.” He frowned. “But I suppose that **could** be an alternative…” Alistair then shook his head briefly. “I’d have to see what happens at the Landsmeet first. Eamon is taking a huge risk, putting me forward as the heir… and I shouldn’t let him down. Not now, anyway.” He turned away from her. “Look, I appreciate it, but could you leave me for awhile?”

“Before I go, it seems it has been decided that we will be heading for Rainesfere tomorrow. Just thought I’d let you know.” Leliana saw Alistair nod in acknowledgment, then she turned and headed back inside.

 

Dinner had come and gone and I had not seen Alistair since he left the table earlier today. Leliana told me she had spoken to him outside, but that he had asked her to leave him alone again. Sten had gone out into the courtyard to spar with some of the Redcliffe guards in the afternoon. He confirmed that Alistair had still been outside where Leliana had left him, but after that, no one had seen him.

I was getting ready for bed. I had already packed my supplies for our trip. My clean robe was folded up on a chair, next to my staff. My boots, freshly oiled, lay on the floor. I sat at the dresser, brushing out my hair, and nibbled at my bottom lip with worry. Where could he be? Maybe he was in his room? I decided to go and check.

After slipping on my dressing gown, I left my room and walked down to his. I knocked.

“Alistair? Are you there?”

There was no response. I opened the door carefully. The room was dark. No fire in the fireplace, no oil lamps or candles lit. I opened the door wide enough to let in light for me to see the bed. No rumpled sheets, no sleeping Alistair. I sighed and shut the door, then headed back to my own room. After blowing out the oil lamp, I crawled into my bed. Sleep did not come easy, but I finally drifted off.

I was not aware of how much time had passed, but the fire in my fireplace was down to glowing embers when I felt someone sitting on the edge of my bed.

“Shh, love. It’s just me,” I heard Alistair whisper.

“Alistair? Where have you been?” I asked sleepily. “I’ve been worried sick.”

He pulled off his shirt and then said, “I took a very long walk up into the hills. I really needed some time to think.” He pulled off his boots and then his pants. Sitting naked on the bed, but not facing me, he then said, “You understand what will happen if I am King, right? They are going to want me to marry some noblewoman and make her my Queen. I… don’t think I can do that.”

I sat up and put my hand on his shoulder.

“Being with you these past few months as a friend and partner and in the last few days, intimately, has made me realize I **can’t** be without you. You mean so much to me. You’re smart, funny, strong, and sexy. What other woman could even compare to you?”

I wasn’t sure how to respond. I moved so that I was sitting close to him. Then I finally spoke softly. “You mean a lot to me too, Alistair. I never actually told you… but you were my first as well that night.”

His eyes got big as he looked at me in surprise. “You were… a virgin too?” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Why did you not tell me? Maker…”

I smiled gently. “I didn’t say anything because I wanted you. I didn’t want you to hesitate out of fear of hurting me… which, by the way, you did not. What we did together that night, and every time since has been wonderful. You are wonderful. I love you… more than I ever thought was possible.”

He breathed a sigh of relief and then said, “And that brings us back to the crux of the problem. I can’t let you go. You obviously feel the same. If I don’t come forward as the heir, then Loghain wins. So what do we do?”

“I suppose I could - if you had to get married to someone else - stay on as your… mistress?”

The anger on Alistair’s face surprised me. “H-how could you even suggest such a thing?! Why would you belittle yourself like that?! You could never just be a mistress to me! You are so much better than that!” He took a calming breath and then said, “No, if I can not have you… then I’d rather not be King. I can still give the throne to Anora. But Loghain will pay, one way or another.”

I was near tears. “I-I can’t let you do that… Eamon believes in you. **I** believe in you! You shouldn’t give it up… for me.”

“It may not matter. We still have the Blight and the archdemon to deal with first. In my eyes, I am a Grey Warden before I am the heir. It is my… no, **our** duty to finish what we have started, politics be damned. Look, let’s just keep this private. Between us, and us alone. I’ll let Eamon do what he wants, but we need to do what Grey Wardens need to do. We need to get the last two treaties dealt with. Tomorrow we head towards Orzammar. We will take one day at a time.”

I nodded. He was right. Then I asked, “You are staying with me tonight?”

He laughed lightly. “What’s the use in hiding it now? They all know. Besides my room is cold and lonely… and once we are on the road again, who knows when we might get this opportunity? I’d much rather be here.” He leaned towards me and kissed me deeply, making me melt. He began tugging at the strings holding my nightshirt closed.

“Mmm,” I said between kisses, “I am… guessing we won’t be… getting much… in the way of… sleep tonight?”

He grinned as he slid under the covers. “No, I don’t think we will.”

 

Sunlight came in through the windows, waking me with its warm light. I ground the sleep out of my eyes and leaned over to my love.

“Alistair? Time for us to get up…” I nudged him gently before kissing him.

“Uh, already?” He gave me a quick kiss back, then yawned and stretched. “Ugh! Feels like I just got to sleep not that long ago…”

“That’s because you did, you rapscallion,” I giggled.

“And how can you be so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed? You didn’t get much more sleep than me.” He yawned again.

“Come now. A nice hot bath this morning and breakfast should help you wake up. Oh, and you still need to pack, right?”

“Yes, I do. Wait… A ‘hot’ bath? They only pump in cold water from the lake.” I held up my hand, making the flame charm appear briefly. He grinned and laughed. “Being with you certainly does have its perks! All right, let’s get down there before someone else hogs the bathing chamber…”

 

We were just getting dressed. Alistair had yet to put on his shirt when Leliana and Zevran walked into the bathing area.

“Ah, good morning you two,” Zevran smiled at us. “Ooh, looking good there Alistair!” He gave Alistair a nudge and a wink. Alistair blushed and quickly finished getting dressed.

“Oh, stop teasing him, Zevran.” Leliana chuckled. Then she pulled me aside and asked quietly, “Sooo… you and Alistair, together, at last, looking quite contented. You even have a glow about you. So shameless!”

I blushed and smiled. “He does make me very happy.”

“And how is he?”

I glanced over at Alistair. He was smiling, but also looking at the two of us curiously. “Well, I’d say he looks happy too… why?”

She giggled. “You know what I mean. Alistair and you… those looong nights together. He must be quite delightful, or you wouldn’t be so happy otherwise, I think. He’s strong and handsome, that’s always nice. He is also good at following instructions, isn’t he?”

Now I was grinning. “Oh, sometimes he has brilliant ideas of his own too.”

“Ooh, Fascinating! The little Templar is all grown up and apparently he… plays well with others?” she giggled again.

Alistair obviously couldn’t stand not knowing what we were talking about. He finally came up to us. “Okay, what are you two giggling about?”

I tried bluffing. “Uh, darkspawn?”

“Oh, yes. So funny, those darkspawn.” He turned to Leliana. “Just what is so hilarious?”

She was still laughing. “You… and your performance.”

“My performance? What performance? And why does it warrant laughter?”

“We were just talking about how you treat her in bed,” she grinned. “Nothing you should worry about according to her.”

I turned scarlet. “Leliana!”

Alistair’s face was just as red. “How I – oh Maker! What is wrong with you women?!” He turned and walked out of the bath.

Zevran had watched this whole exchange with his arms crossed on his chest. He pretended to look offended. “So it’s not all right for me to tease Alistair, but you are allowed? My dear Leliana, I am so hurt!”

I ran out of the bath, hoping Alistair wasn’t angry at me. I saw him leaning against the wall nearby looking slightly miffed.

“Alistair?” I began tentatively, “I’m sorry if we made you mad…” Then I thought I saw a tiny hint of a smile. “Alistair?”

He quickly grabbed me around my waist and swung me around, making me squeal. Then he gently pressed me up against the wall and kissed me. “Sooo…” he drawled with a grin. “I’m that good, am I?”

My voice dropped in pitch and I murmured, “Oh, yes. You **are** that good…” I kissed him back. My hand reached down and rubbed his erection eagerly.

He groaned and swept me into his arms. “Looks like we’re going to be late for breakfast…” he muttered as he rushed us back to my room.

 

Fortunately, we were not. We had discovered that a hard and fast “quickie” was just as enjoyable as our long and slow lovemaking sessions. Unfortunately, for poor Alistair, just watching me walk down the hall towards the dining room was enough to torment him… again. I heard him groan.

“Maker, I swear woman! I am going to end up with a raging cock-stand for the rest of our journey together,” he muttered. He glanced around and seeing no one else in the hallway, quickly adjusted himself. He sighed. Then he untucked his shirt, letting it drape in front.

“I…”

“Don’t say you’re sorry,” he said quietly and then kissed me. “There is no one I’d rather be uncomfortable for than you. You make all the pain worthwhile.” He gave a grin and a chuckle. “Though I daresay, riding a horse will be interesting with my… ah, condition. Let’s hope I can calm down… before having to mount up…”

I couldn’t help it. I started laughing. His eyes crinkled in the corners with his huge grin and he began laughing too. We were still snickering as we finally walked into the dining room. Alistair grabbed the closest seat and quickly sat down. I sat next to him.

“Something amuses the two of you, no doubt,” we heard Morrigan quip, as she glanced up from the grimoire. “Whatever it may be, keep it ‘twixt yourselves, please. Some of us would like to eat in peace this morning.” She grabbed a slice of melon off of her plate and began eating and reading at the same time.

Alistair looked like he was about to say something – possibly rude – to Morrigan, but I put my hand on his arm and shook my head. “Let it go, dear,” I whispered. “Afterall, she did save me.”

He nodded and then grabbed a citrus from the bowl on the table. He peeled it and began eating, just to give himself something to do while we waited for the main meal. I opened my mouth and he popped a wedge of the fruit in, smiling as I enjoyed its tart juiciness.

Wynne, Zevran, Leliana, Sten, and the arl’s family all walked in, seating themselves at the table. As if on cue, the servants began bringing out platters of food, and hot cups of kafija.

I mixed in my milk and sweetener and took a sip. Oh, I was so going to miss this kind of treatment once we got back on the road. I then helped myself to some toasted bread, sausages and fried eggs. I also grabbed some of the melon slices that Morrigan had been enjoying. Alistair had the same as me, but also enjoyed some fried tubers that had also been brought out.

After we had all finished the meal I spoke to Eamon. “Arl Eamon, sir. I wanted to thank you for the generous hospitality that you have given all of us these last few days.”

“It is I who should be thanking you, Warden Kylara. You, Alistair, and all of your companions have done so much for me and my family.” He dabbed his lips with his napkin, then continued, “Will you be coming back here after Orzammar?”

“Ah, we haven’t had much time to discuss any further plans, but probably not right away,” Alistair said. “I am thinking we can probably take the Imperial Highway to the North road, and head into Denerim for a little bit. There are some things that we can do there, before heading south to find the Dalish.”

“Isn’t Denerim still a bit dangerous for you both?” Leliana asked. “I mean, the rest of us, it can still be a risk. But won’t you two be recognized?”

Alistair smiled at me. “Kylara had a nice little trick she did last time we had to make a stop in Denerim.”

“Yes, I could use my disguise spell again, if necessary. But I wonder if we should really continue hiding? Loghain will come after us no matter what. If we fight back, perhaps he’ll begin taking us more seriously. Constantly hiding makes us seem like cowards, I think, and that is something we are not.”

“True,” Alistair nodded. “That is a valid point.”

“Well, now that we are all fed, we should probably get going on the road soon,” Wynne said. “Is everyone ready to go?”

“Ah, I haven’t packed yet, Wynne,” Alistair replied sheepishly. “But I can do it quickly.” He then got up from the table, excused himself, and then ran off to his room.

All my friends were suddenly looking at me.

“Wait… Are you saying it’s my fault Alistair hasn’t packed yet? Well, I suppose I did maybe delay him… just a bit?” I blushed a deep red.

Zevran laughed. “I am sure he did not mind in the slightest, my dear friend. You certainly are lovely enough to…”

“Zevran,” Wynne said in a warning tone, “I think that is enough of that kind of talk.”

Still blushing a bit, I said, “Yes, let’s all get our things and head down to the stables. I am sure Teagan is waiting on us.”

 

Within the hour, we were all walking down the trail from the castle and heading to the stables of the village.

Teagan was indeed waiting on us, along with some of the stablehands. There were enough horses for all of us, all saddled up and ready to go. Suddenly, I saw Bodahn leading his mule-drawn cart up the path to meet up with us.

“Bodahn! What a surprise! Are you coming with us to Orzammar?”

“Who me? Nah. I’ve a store to manage here now! But I thought I might loan you me cart and mule here so you can carry your tents and extra supplies. She’s a good beast, and knows the way to Orzammar to boot.”

“That is so very generous of you! Thank you!” I said and gave him a peck on the cheek. “We will take good care of your cart and your mule, Bodahn.”

He smiled at us. “I know you will. You take care out there! Stay safe!”

Wynne was pleased to see the cart as well. She turned to Teagan and asked, “Do you mind if we leave my horse here? I think I might prefer to ride on the cart instead.”

“An extra horse can still come in handy, Wynne. She’s a gentle mare. We can tie her up to the back of that cart, and she’ll follow along,” Teagan replied.

“Very well.”

Since the cart had been built for Bodahn and Sandal, Wynne had no trouble getting up into the driver’s seat. “Just hold the reins in your hands, Lady Wynne,” Bodahn instructed. “She’s a good, sturdy beast… and once she sees the other horses head out, she’ll just follow along. You won’t need to drive her.”

“Thank you, Bodahn. And you don’t need to call me ‘Lady’, just Wynne is fine with me.” Wynne smiled at the dwarf.

He nodded. “I will remember, La – I mean, Wynne.”

Wynne chuckled.

Turning back to me, Bodahn asked, “What do you plan on doing with the horses once you get to Orzammar? There are no stables there.”

“You think we will be there long?” I asked him. “I just thought we’d need to present the treaty to the King and then head on out. We should only be a few hours, I was thinking.”

“Well, last I was hearing from some fellow traders, things are not going so smoothly in Orzammar. You might not just be ‘in and out’.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I have a distant cousin that has a farm about a days walk, I think, from Orzammar. Perhaps you might want to leave your horses, my mule, and the cart there, and walk the rest of the way to Orzammar. That way, they are taken care of… should anything delay you in the city. Here, I can write a quick letter for you to take with you, to explain to me cousin. I am sure she will help you all.”

Bodahn ran back to his store as fast as he could go, and about ten minutes later, came back with a piece of parchment sealed with some wax. “Her name is Brunnhylda. Her farm is right off the main road to Orzammar, so you shouldn’t miss it. Just give her me letter.”

Thank you again, Bodahn. You have been a great help to us on this journey.”

“Ah, It’s no problem. Glad I could be of assistance.”

 

We all mounted up on our horses and headed up the road, leaving Redcliffe behind. Winston followed behind the horses. I kept glancing back and checking on him, but he seemed fine. By nightfall, we found ourselves near the path that lead up to Haven. We found a nearby field and tethered all of the horses to the cart, giving enough lead so that they could graze, but not wander off too far. Then we set up our tents and campfire.

We had been given travel rations but decided to save them for later. Leliana took her bow to go hunt something for us to cook. She whistled for Winston. He looked at me quizzically. I nodded so he followed her. After a while, she returned with some waterfowl.

I cleaned them and put them on spits to roast, then got some root vegetables out of a box in the cart. I stuck them into the coals to cook. After we had all eaten our fill, we decided to get some sleep. Now that Alistair and I were sharing a tent, Morrigan decided to take the one that Alistair had been using. Sten and Zevran took one, and Leliana and Wynne took the last one.

Before we got into our tent, Morrigan gave Alistair and me a warning. “I would just like to say, I would prefer that I get to sleep in peace whilst on the road, and I am sure the rest of the group would agree. So if the two of you must… fraternize… keep your noises to a minimum. Preferably, I’d say no noise at all, but that is probably not going to happen.”

I saw Alistair frown a bit, but I nodded. Then we let the tent flap close behind us.

“Hrmph,” Alistair muttered. “Just because she’s not with anyone. Does she really get to dictate our behavior?”

“Oh, don’t worry love. I had a plan in place all along.” I touched the canvas of the tent and whispered, “Chan eil fuaim a 'fàgail an àite seo.”

Grinning, he asked, “What did you just do?”

I said nothing, but I smiled at him and began unfastening my robe. I slipped out of it, folded it neatly, and placed it in the corner of the tent. Then I took off my undergarments and placed them with my robe. I lay back on the bedroll. “Well? Am I going to have to start without you?” I rubbed my fingers over my hardening nipples.

I had never seen Alistair get out of his armor faster than he did just then.

“Thank the Maker I decided on this lighter leather armor instead of my normal chainmail…” He pulled off his boots and flung them onto the pile of armor pieces he’d scattered around the tent.

I laughed at his antics. “Eager, are we?”

“You have no idea…” he groaned as he leaned over me and began kissing me.

 

Morning arrived as it usually does, though not much light came through the canvas layers of our tents. If it hadn’t been for Winston poking his big snout in our tent and licking Alistair’s face, we probably would have slept on.

“Augh! Bleagh!” Alistair shouted as he shoved Winston’s head away. He sat up and wiped his face in disgust. “Ugh! Morning mabari breath… and slobber!”

Winston whined.

“Oh don’t give me that,” Alistair growled at Winston. “You did that on purpose!”

I rolled over and reached into my pack. I handed Alistair a rag. He used it to wipe the rest of the slobber off of himself. “I guess he just wanted to make sure we were awake and ready to go?” I said as I yawned and stretched. “He also not used to seeing you with me like this. While we were in the castle, he slept in the kitchen, remember?”

“Well, he could have found a better way to wake me!” Alistair muttered. “Yuck…” He pulled his sloppily discarded armor together and began getting dressed. He had just gotten his leather pants on by the time I had finished getting my robe back on. “That didn’t take you long,” he commented.

“Organization will set you free, love.”

He grinned. “Have I ever told you, I adore it when you call me that?” Then he looked around the tent. “Have you seen my shirt?”

I just gave him a smile back and reached under the pillow behind him and handed it to him.

“Huh? How did that get there?” He slipped it on, then grabbed his boots and pulled them on. I handed him his armored leather vest. “Thanks,” he replied and put it on as well. He opened the tent flap, headed outside, but then held it open for me.

I rolled up our bedrolls, tied them up, and then packed the last few scattered items into our packs. Then I hand him the packs and the bedrolls and pillows. He jogged over to Bodahn’s cart and packed our belongings on it, then ran back over to me.

“We make a fantastic team, you and I,” he murmured as he embraced me. He lowered his lips to mine and we began kissing.

We heard a sound of disgust from behind us. “Do you two really have to be doing **that** … all of the time?” Morrigan snorted.

“Why? Jealous?” Alistair smirked.

“Of you? Hardly. Frankly, I think she could do so much better than you… but she has made her choice.” Morrigan sighed. Turning to me, she then said, “I must say, I do appreciate the fact you both kept quiet last night.” She then went back into her tent to pack.

“Were we quiet last night?” Alistair whispered to me. “I was pretty sure I had you screaming pretty loud.” I just grinned and then it dawned on him. “The spell! Oh, you clever little minx! You made it so that they couldn’t hear us! Maker, I love you!” He laughed so hard I couldn’t help but join him.

“Well, you two are certainly happy this morning,” Zevran commented as he emerged from the tent he shared with Sten last night. “I didn’t get much sleep, unfortunately. Sten snores.”

Sten came out of the tent behind Zevran. “I do no such thing, elf.” Sten glowered at Zevran.

“My dear Sten, my poor ears beg to differ,” Zevran made an over-exaggerated example of rubbing his pointed ears. “You snored when we camped in this same spot not that long ago…”

“If I did this… and I still say I do not, why did you not complain then?”

“Out in the open air, it dissipated. In the confines of the tent, however…”

Sten muttered under his breath, “As-eb vashe-qalab!” **8**

“Zev? I’d let this drop if I were you. Sten is probably twice your size…” Alistair said wisely.

Zevran rushed over and hugged Alistair. “How sweet that you would worry for me, dear friend Alistair! How about I sleep in your tent tonight instead?”

“Ah, um… How about no?” Alistair mumbled as he pried Zevran loose.

“You Fereldens really need to loosen up; you are so uptight!” Zevran chuckled. “You do know I was joking, yes?” Just as Alistair began to relax, Zev then quipped, “Or was I?” He waggled an eyebrow at Alistair.

“Pay him no mind,” I whispered to him. “You know he’s doing that just to get under your skin.”

“And doing a great job of it…” he muttered back.

“Don’t worry, love. No one is sharing your tent but me from now on,” I said with a smile.

“Thank the Maker for that!”

“Sure you won’t share?” Zevran grinned in our direction.

“NO!” Alistair and I shouted together and we laughed.

“Ack! You wound me!” Zev pouted. “So selfish, the two of you!”

 

After we got all of the tents packed on the cart and had a quick breakfast of travel cakes, we mounted up and headed north on the road. Per Teagan’s instructions, we figured we’d reach Rainesfere by the late afternoon or early evening.

The day was rather uneventful. Lake Calenhad was on our right shimmering in the afternoon sunlight, the breeze was cool coming off of the Frostbacks, and Leliana was singing some tune that I didn’t recognize. Alistair and I were riding side by side on our horses, behind the cart.

“Have you been to Rainesfere before?” I asked him.

“Eamon took me there once when Teagan was just getting himself established as bann there. That would have been… about ten years ago, just before I was sent away to the monastery.” I saw him frown slightly. “It’s a small fishing village, much like Redcliffe, except smaller. It’s quiet too. Peaceful.”

“Will we see any other towns or villages before Orzammar?”

“I don’t think so. Maybe there will be some outlying farms… like the one Bodahn’s cousin has. But once we leave Lake Calenhad behind and head into the mountains, it will get more sparse and the land more barren and rocky.”

“Have you ever seen Orzammar?”

“No, but I’ve read about it. I know it’s deep under the mountain and huge inside. I have heard people who have gone inside the city say that the book descriptions don’t do it justice. I suppose we will see for ourselves in a few days though.”

I nodded, then smiled at him. “Should we break for lunch soon?”

He shielded his eyes and gazed up towards the sun. “Probably so. I’m getting a little hungry.”

“I’ll ride ahead and let Morrigan and Leliana know, all right?” I then gently urged my mare forward. She trotted around the wagon as I made my way up to the front of our little caravan.

 

As I left, Zevran urged his horse forward and brought himself up to ride beside Alistair. He grinned at Alistair, who had apparently been enraptured watching my butt in the saddle.

“She does have a nice ass, yes?”

Alistair scowled at Zevran. “How’s this… You talk about her ass again, I’ll break your neck.” **9**

“Ooh, so feisty you!” Zevran laughed lightly, but then said in a more serious tone, “Worry not, friend Alistair. I am not going to take your lady from you. I have my honor and pride. I just want to simply admire her. She is very lovely…” He sighed. “You are indeed a very lucky man.”

Alistair’s ire seemed to cool. “I am… sorry, Zevran. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. It’s just sometimes, I can’t help but be jealous… and you are an attractive elf.”

“Why, thank you! I am glad you notice. You are very gorgeous yourself, you know this, right?”

Alistair blushed. “Er, ah, I am… not into men.”

“Do you find it uncomfortable that I find you handsome?” Zevran asked.

“Maybe… just a little.” Alistair fidgeted uneasily and then asked, “Have you, um, been with a lot of guys?”

“Curious? Well, as an assassin, I have had to sometimes sleep with my targets. There have been men, of course, and I haven’t minded in the slightest. Especially if they are good-looking… or good in bed.” He shrugged. “I’d say that I still prefer women though, in case you really wonder.”

“Have you… had very many women in your time? I mean… you seem like the sort of man who would.”

Zevran cocked his head at Alistair. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I um,” Alistair turned an even deeper shade of red.

“You are wanting advice, yes? You are wanting to please your lover?” Zev prompted.

Alistair mumbled something incoherent.

Zevran chuckled. “From what little I have heard from you two, I would say she has no complaints with your… technique. But perhaps I could tell you a few things I have picked up over the years, if you like?” Alistair jerked his head up and down once quickly, which made Zev laugh. “Ah, but it seems we are slowing down now. I am guessing we are stopping for lunch?”

“Yes. Guess we can’t really talk now.”

“Find me tonight, once we are settled in Rainesfere. I am sure we can find a place to… chat,” Zevran said with a grin.

“You… won’t say anything to Kylara, right?”

“No, my friend. This will be between you and me. I promise.” Zev gave Alistair a wink, then stopped his horse and dismounted in one smooth leap. “Come, Let us go and get some lunch.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7 Had to reference a fun and fantastic group on Facebook! This is for you Caboodlers!  
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/CaboodlingWithAlistair
> 
> 8 Qunlat translator found here: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Qunlat I used this for when I needed phrases and words that Sten would speak in his native language. His phrase here would translate colloquially as “This is bullshit…”
> 
> 9 Movie quote from “The Wedding Singer” (another old favorite of mine…)


	19. Rainesfere and Meeting a Golem (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang arrive in Teagan's town of Rainesfere where they are honored guests for the night. The next day Kylara, Alistair, Leliana, and Zevran make a short journey northwest to save a small village from a darkspawn attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sexy Bathtime Fun art by the amazing Kacha! (https://nsfwfrosch.tumblr.com)
> 
> ** Mature Content Ahead **

The sun was already behind the Frostbacks, shrouding us in early darkness when we finally arrived in the town of Rainesfere. To my surprise, Teagan was waiting for us.

“How did you get here before us?” I had to ask.

Teagan gave me a smile. “I rode all night. I passed by your camp in the early hours yesterday. I really did want to get here before you, so I could welcome you here.” He beckoned for us to follow. “Let me show you to the stables, and then you can join me at ‘The Sloshed Shad’.”

I burst out laughing. “The what?!”

“I didn’t name it!” Teagan chuckled. “That pub was here long before I became the bann of this village. The good news is they have a wonderfully delicious fish chowder and because we get dwarves from Orzammar every once in a while, we have great beer too!”

“Mmm, fish chowder. Hope it’s as good as the one I used to eat in Antiva City,” Zevran grinned.

“Well, we don’t have quite the variety of spices that Antiva has,” Teagan replied. “But I still think this will impress you, Zevran.”

After getting our horses and Bodahn’s mule settled into the stables for the night, we headed over to the tavern.

Locals greeted their bann as Teagan walked into the pub. We all sat at the bar “Hannah, love,” Teagan called out to the lady behind the bar. “We need eight bowls of chowder and your best beer to go with if you please.”

“Yes, m’lord,” she replied quickly and went to the back area. With another two women assisting, Hannah quickly brought out the bowls of fish chowder and large frothy mugs of beer. We all tucked into the food.

It really was delicious! Chunks of firm white fish, large slices of onion and potato, and the seasonings, though subtle, really completed the dish. Warm slices of a fresh sourdough bread were served alongside. The beer was also very good. Nutty notes with hints of a caramel-like taste and not bitter in the slightest.

“This is really fantastic Teagan!” I said. “Thank you so much for the hospitality!”

Just then Hannah brought out several large bones with meat still attached. “For your dog, miss.” She set the plate on the ground and Winston gave a very happy bark. He took one of the larger bones in his mouth and went off into the corner to chew contentedly.

“Thank you, Hannah, was it?” She nodded. “Very generous of you.”

“No worries miss. M’lord Teagan has some mabari. We keep the bones for his hounds too.”

“I didn’t know you had mabari, Teagan,” I said with a smile.

“Yes, I have two. Matisse and Zeldah. They are a mated pair and I used to give the pups to our local hunters.”

“Used to?”

“Oh, they are old and just live comfortably in my home now. One of the hunters is returning the favor when his Lady gives birth next month, I will get a new pup.” Teagan ate some more of his dinner and then said, “Speaking of home, you and Alistair are staying with me tonight. The rest of you have rooms here at the tavern. I’d have invited you all, but my home is much smaller than my brother’s. But you will be quite comfortable here. Hannah will take very good care of you.”

“We will be just fine here, Teagan,” Wynne smiled. “Thank you.”

“Yes, I agree,” Zevran grinned and I caught him giving Hannah a wink, to which she blushed. “You are right, as well. This is a really delicious fish chowder.”

“I am glad you like it, ser elf,” Hannah replied.

“Oh, no. No ‘ser elf’ fair maiden. Call me Zev.” He then whispered something into Hannah’s ear which flushed her cheeks pink as she stifled a giggle.

I sighed. Zevran was up to his usual tricks.

“Well, I must head back up to my home,” Teagan sighed and finished his beer. “I have a lot to catch up on since I have been away. Stay here and enjoy yourselves for as long as you like. Alistair, Kylara, when you are ready to retire, my home is just up on the hill. I will probably be in my office, so Stephanaus will show you to your rooms when you get there.”

“Thank you again, Teagan,” I said as he got up and left.

After we all finished, everyone seemed to break off into their own little groups. I saw Zevran gesture for Alistair to come and sit with him at a table in the corner. I thought it was a bit odd, but didn’t say anything as Alistair left the bar. I saw Hannah bring them another pint of beer. They sat there and chatted while drinking.

Leliana had found another of the barmaids, a pretty girl with light brown hair and green eyes. They were off in another corner talking and smiling at each other.

After Hannah had supplied us all with more beer, she and Wynne began exchanging recipes.

“I’m heading off to my room,” Sten said gruffly. “Thank you for the meal.” He nodded at Hannah, who smiled and quickly told him which room was his. To my surprise, Winston grabbed another bone off the plate Hannah had left and followed Sten. He put the bone down briefly and barked to get Sten’s attention. “You wish to stay with me tonight?” Winston barked his approval. “Very well, dog. Follow me.” Sten gave a hint of a smile as Winston picked up his bone and went into Sten’s room.

Morrigan also decided to retire early and taking the grimoire with her she walked into her room and quickly shut the door. This left me alone, which I thought was a bit strange. But I shrugged it off and finished my second pint. Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone beckoning me over.

“Me?” I mouthed to the stranger as I pointed to myself. He nodded. Curious, I got up and headed over to his table.

I glanced at the man. He was definitely not someone I had met or seen before tonight. “Um, what can I do for you?”

He gestured for me to sit down. I did so. Then he said quietly, “Heard rumors over the last day or so that Teagan was expectin’ some important company… Grey Wardens and their companions. You must be them, am I right?”

Worried this might be some kind of trick or trap, I replied cautiously, “Why do you need to know?”

“Name’s Felix. I am a traveling merchant, nothing more. I mean no harm to you.” He glanced around the room, then continued, “Thing is, I was recently in Shadmoor, about two hours west of here. I used to go back and forth between here and there quite often. Even got this off the wife of a deceased mage.” He took a short rod made of some strange metal and topped with a rough-hewn piece of quartz.

“What is that?” I asked.

“It’s a golem control rod. It belongs to the golem that stands in the middle of Shadmoor. Supposedly, the golem killed its last owner. But after it had done the deed, it froze in place and has been there ever since.”

“What use would I have for a golem?” I questioned as I looked at the merchant suspiciously. “Especially if it killed its last owner?”

“Well, the townsfolk want it gone. They’ve been tryin’ to get rid of it for close to thirty years, but nothin’ they’ve tried has worked. They even used this rod themselves and sod all!”

“What makes you think the rod will work for me then?”

“You aren’t from the village. Maybe somehow the golem knows the people from there and refuses to obey them? I don’t know, but I figured someone else could try. Besides, if it does obey you, golems are very strong and can do your every bidding. Might even help you fight the darkspawn?”

That did get me thinking. Perhaps a golem could help us in our fights; especially against the tougher darkspawn. “I suppose we could take a slight detour there and have a look-see at this ‘golem’. But I’d have to talk it over with the rest of my friends. They may say no, you understand.”

“Yes ma’am, I do. I’m staying here tonight as well. Talk it over and come and find me in the morning if you want the rod. Thank you for your time.” He then got up and headed off to his room.

After he left, I noticed that Wynne was already gone as well, probably in her own room. Leliana and the young barmaid were holding each other's hands and talking softly. Just then Leliana lead the young woman down to what I assumed was her room. _Leliana likes women… in that way? Well, that is news to me._ I shrugged. _Whatever makes her happy, I suppose._

I also saw Zevran get up from where he had been chatting with Alistair, and he immediately went over to Hannah and gave her a kiss. Then he led her to his room. I really hoped Teagan wasn’t going to mind this…

The tavern was now empty, save one last girl who was cleaning up.

“Closing for the night?” I asked her. She nodded.

Alistair then approached me and put his arm around me. The look in his golden eyes immediately made me weak in my knees. There was a hunger burning there that had nothing to do with food. The look was for me.

“So, uh… What did you and Zevran talk about?” I whispered quietly.

His voice was rough with desire. “Let’s get to our room at Teagan’s… **now**.”

I nodded as he grabbed my hand and led me out of the tavern into the cool night air.

 

We only made it about halfway up the hill when Alistair pulled me off the pathway and into a copse of trees. He pressed me up against a larger trunk and began kissing me deeply. My lips, my neck, my throat, the tops of my breasts; he kissed me everywhere.

In between his hot kisses, I heard him mutter, “The things I want… no **need** … to do to you! I thought we could make it to the house… but, Maker! I need you now!”

I nibbled his ear gently and murmured, “Benefit of being a mage… **robes**.” I moved them aside and pulled my smalls down.

He groaned and quickly undid the laces on his leather breeches. In no time at all, he was inside me. “Kylara,” he sighed as he began moving, slowly at first, but then quickening his pace. “I will never get enough of you.”

“Nor I, you,” I murmured. I hooked one of my legs around him. “Harder, please!”

He obliged, thrusting deep, and in moments I pulled him to me so his kiss could drown out my screams. He felt me squeezing him and with a few more hard thrusts and he followed, pumping his release inside me.

“Sweet Andraste…” He sighed as he slowly withdrew. “I really needed that.” He laced his breeches back together, then kissed me tenderly. “I hope I wasn’t too rough.”

“No,” I replied and kissed him back. “I could sense your need. You always make me want you just as much as you want me. I don’t know what you and Zevran talked about, but something obviously set your desire aflame.” I grinned.

He chuckled lightly. “Oh, you have no idea! But for now, let’s get up to Teagan’s where I can love you properly.”

 

Hand in hand we walked up the rest of the way to Teagan’s manor. It looked like a very nice hunting lodge. Alistair knocked on the door. An elderly man opened the door to greet us.

“Welcome, Grey Wardens. I am Stephanaus, Teagan’s manservant. I have your rooms already prepared.”

“Ah, did Teagan not tell you?” Alistair asked with slight hesitation. “We would like to share our room. If that is all right?”

“I was not informed of this. I should probably check with Lord Teagan. Please wait here.” Stephanaus walked off.

Alistair and I exchanged glances. “I thought he knew. Everyone else seems to,” he said with a hint of worry.

Stephanaus returned. “Lord Teagan would like to speak with you alone, Ser Alistair. Please follow me.”

As Alistair followed Stephanaus, he glanced back at me looking even more concerned.

 

They came to a closed door and Stephanaus knocked lightly. From inside, Alistair heard Teagan reply, “Enter.”

Stephanaus opened the door. “Ser Alistair, as you requested.” After Alistair walked in, Stephanaus shut the door behind them.

Alistair approached the desk where Teagan sat. “Y-you wanted to see me?” he asked, trying to not sound nervous.

Teagan sat in silence for a moment, hands templed under his chin, then said slowly, “So, I understand that you and Kylara are… together?”

Alistair licked his lips nervously. “Um. Yes, Teagan. We are.” He paused and then asked, “We thought you and Eamon… already knew.”

“Yesss,” Teagan replied, holding the ‘s’ at the end. “We are both aware of it. What Eamon and I were wondering is where you are planning to go with this… relationship. I can see how you got together since you are both the last Wardens in Ferelden. But you do understand what my brother is doing for you… What he is risking by putting you forward as the heir? You will need to find a woman with noble blood to marry. As King, this will be expected. As lovely, smart, and strong as she is, Kylara is not of noble birth.”

Alistair was shaking with fear. He knew this had been bound to come up sooner or later. He had only wished it hadn’t been this soon. He tried to say something… anything… but his mouth was dry and his tongue wouldn’t move. He hung his head dejectedly.

“Look, Alistair,” Teagan said softly. “I am not judging you. I don’t mind that that the two of you are together… for now. So long as you understand that you will have to end the relationship… and the sooner the better. If only to prevent the both of you more pain in the future.”

Alistair nodded slowly. Finally, he spoke. “I know this, Teagan. But how do you find love with someone you don’t even know?”

Teagan chuckled. “Believe me, I know. It isn’t easy. My brother got lucky that he did love Isolde. I also understand more than you may realize.”

“What do you mean?” Alistair quietly asked, out of curiosity.

“Well,” Teagan replied, “Now that Connor is going to be a mage, and will not be able to inherit, I may now have to consider finding a wife for myself. Eamon may or may not be able to father another, and I don’t want to leave our land and holdings without someone of our blood to take them over in the future.

“However, I don’t want you to worry about me. You need to focus on finding someone of noble blood for yourself. As a suggestion, when you next have to go into Denerim, I would look around. There are many noble families that reside there already and as more nobles arrive for the Landsmeet, more options may become available to you. You might find someone who catches your fancy.” Teagan gave a smile. “Go on and get some sleep. If you wish to stay in the same room with Kylara, I will allow it. But you must talk this situation over with her and soon. Now, I must get back to my paperwork. Goodnight, Alistair.”

“Goodnight, Teagan,” Alistair replied softly. He opened the office door and made his way back to the main entrance.

 

Stephanaus led Alistair to the room I was in. I had been pacing back and forth with worry. After the door closed behind Alistair, I rushed into his embrace. He didn’t say anything; he just held me tightly.

Several moments passed by and the suspense finally did me in. “What happened in there Alistair? You were in there for quite a while.”

I heard him sigh deeply. Then he leaned over and whispered into my ear, “Is there any spell you have that could make our conversation be private? Between us? I am not sure if I trust that Stephanaus isn’t hovering outside of our door, waiting to report back to Teagan…”

I thought about it, then said, “Put one of your hands on my ear, and the other on my mouth… gently so that I may still speak the incantation.” He did as I asked, and I did the same to him. Then I spoke quietly, “Leig leinn an còir againn bruidhinn gu prìobhaideach.” <Let us have the right to speak in private.> I then nodded and he put his hands back down. “So what happened?”

“Teagan and Eamon knew about us and they want me to break off our relationship.” I gasped in shock. Alistair sighed again. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep this charade up! They both expect me to find a noblewoman to marry. But I just can’t! I cannot just rush into some strange relationship with someone else when I love you! He says I should do it ‘the sooner the better’ so that I don’t cause us more pain in the future… But what about the pain it is causing me right now?”

All I could think of to say was something Brother Genetivi had said back when we were looking for the Urn. “Politics. Never did anyone any good…” I quoted.

“Exactly!” Alistair agreed. “I love Eamon like a father, but I can’t let him do this to us!”

I chewed my lip thoughtfully, then said, “We are only here for the one night. Then we are back on the road for who knows how long. It will probably be a long time before we will see Eamon and Teagan again, so I say we keep things the way they are between us. Never mind what Eamon and Teagan want for you later. We will have time to come up with some kind of plan. No matter what comes we **will** find a way… I am sure.”

“You may not be of noble blood, but you sure do think like a queen in my opinion.” Alistair looked a bit relieved and gave a genuine smile. “So, now that that has been discussed, I say we relax for now. I am feeling a bit stressed.” He gestured to the corner of the room where a large wood and stone structure had been built. “Is that a tub?” he asked.

“Yes, as matter of fact it is. This manor of Teagan’s does have quite a few more amenities than Eamon’s castle…” I walked over to the large tub, climbed up a small ladder, and down into the tub to plug the drain. After getting back out, I began using the hand-pump to fill it with water.

Alistair came over to help as he could pump faster. As he pumped he said, “Let’s not mention their names anymore. I want to enjoy my night here with you, and any and all further nights we will have until we have to deal with them again.”

“Absolutely,” I agreed. I then began to disrobe. Once my robe was off, I hung it up on a nearby rack. I then stood there in my underclothes.

“No fair getting a head start,” Alistair teased me. He then finished pumping; the tub near full. Then he began to take off his armor. This time, he stacked everything neatly near my belongings. He walked back over to me, clad only in his braies, his arousal straining the fabric.

“Just to let you know, I will have to undo the privacy spell, if you’d like me to heat the water again.”

“Yes, I would like that. Thank you.” He replied as he came up to me and stood next to me.

I reversed the previous spell and then spoke the spell to heat the water and stuck my hands into the tub. As I was doing so, Alistair began gently kissing my neck, tickling my back, and rubbing his confined erection against my backside. I squirmed.

“Dear, while I love what you are doing… probably best to not distract me at this time. I don’t want to scald you.”

“Sorry, I just can’t help myself. Your skin is so soft and you smell so good,” he murmured in my ear. He then wrapped his arms around me and held me from behind while I finished heating the water.

“There. That should do it,” I said as I withdrew my hands. The water was steaming invitingly. I climbed the ladder and eased myself into the water.

“You’re getting in with your underclothes on?” Alistair asked, amused.

“Well, they need to be washed, so I figured I'd get them wet now, then I can remove and scrub them clean.”

“Ah, I see. Good idea. Guess I’ll do the same then.” He climbed the small ladder and joined me in the water. Then he removed his own underclothing as I removed mine.

There was a small, hard white bar lying in an indentation on the corner of the tub. I picked it up and sniffed it. It had a pleasant musky scent. “Is this… soap?” I asked.

“I believe so,” Alistair replied as he came up to me. “I’ve only ever seen that kind once before. It takes time to make and is usually expensive. There must be an apothecary here in town that knows how to craft it.”

I nodded and then wet the bar. It became slippery in my hands. I rubbed the soap in between my hands until I had a foamy lather, then I put the bar down carefully back in its holding place. Next, I washed out all of the underclothing, rinsed them, wrung them out, and put them on the edge of the tub. Finally, I turned to Alistair, who had been waiting patiently with a smile. “Sorry about the delay, love.”

“You are worth the wait every time.” He pulled me over to a bench on the side of the tub and sat down, then had me straddle his lap. He groaned as I brushed up against his cock. But then I started floating up and off. He pulled me back down and I locked my legs around his to keep me from moving away again.

“Well, this will be an interesting challenge!” I giggled.

“Indeed…” he grinned back.

“So, do you actually want to have your wicked way with me here in the water?” I said half-teasingly. “Or shall we bathe and then make our way to the bed?”

“Hmm, how about… both? Besides, I’m up for the challenge.”

“With your stamina, I have no doubt of that!” I laughed. Then I placed my wet hands on his face and began kissing him deeply. He removed his hands off of my waist and fondled my breasts eagerly.

His lips then left mine and he trailed his tongue down my neck and to my breasts. He licked the water droplets off my nipples and nibbled them teasingly with his teeth, making me moan. “Maker, Alistair. You make me feel so good!”

He came back up from my breasts and breathed in my ear, “Oh, I am just getting started…”

He lifted me off of his lap and guided me to the corner of the tub. His whispered instructions had me then holding on to the edges of it. Then using the water’s buoyancy, he lifted my hips so that I was floating near the surface, with his hands just barely supporting me.

“What are you…” was all I was able to say as he lowered his face down to my sex. He kissed my thighs and then his tongue slowly rubbed at my center, in a long, slow lick that instantly set me on fire. I gripped the edges of the tub tightly and cried out; my whole body shuddered in delight.

Encouraged by my cries, he licked deeper and felt me growing even wetter against his tongue. I heard him rumble in satisfaction. “So sweet! You taste so good!” he groaned against my skin. He then moved his mouth harder and faster.

“A-Alistair! Oh, fuck! That feels so… Maker! I am going… to…”

He paused for only a moment to growl out, “Come for me.” Then he flicked his tongue against my clitoris… once… twice… and I shattered. I could feel him devouring my orgasm. My cries, loud at first, soon died down to a whimper. He released me and then carefully guided me back to the bench and his lap. As he held me, I collapsed against his wet chest, still trying to recover from the most mind-blowing experience I had ever had. I felt him chuckle lightly, then he softly said, “I take it you enjoyed that?”

I moaned and slowly sat up. “Where in all of Thedas did you learn to do that?”

“Let’s just say I have thoroughly enjoyed what you have done to me and I decided it was time to reciprocate.” He grinned. “Oh, and to let you know that I plan to do that to you again. Just a fair warning…”

“Alistair, love… I think I will have to insist upon it,” I sighed and kissed him softly.

 

The water was starting to get cold, so Alistair quickly washed my hair and his own, then assisted me out of the tub. He pulled the plug to let the water drain, then hopped out and handed me a towel to dry off with. I grabbed our underclothes and lay them close to the fireplace to dry, then we quickly made our way to the bed.

Snuggling under the covers, we kissed and touched each other tenderly. Then Alistair made as good as his word. He burrowed under the covers and devoured me senseless until he had me screaming again.

He quickly came up from under the covers, kissed me fiercely, and immediately plunged inside me. He groaned as he rode my orgasm to its end. Then he began moving slowly in me. This time, however, he did not quicken his pace at all. He kept rolling his hips in the same deliberate rhythm, causing a slow build until at last, we both climaxed together. It was so powerful and amazing that I cried tears of joy. He gently kissed them from my face. Afterwards, we lay there entwined for several minutes just listening to each other’s breathing and heartbeats.

Finally, he spoke in a hushed whisper. “There is no one else for me…ever. You complete me, Kylara.”

“Never want to be apart from you…” I murmured sleepily. “Promise me we will find a way to stay together… forever.”

Alistair murmured contentedly. “I am not giving you up… not without a fight. That I will guarantee.”

With that, we fell asleep blissfully in each other’s arms.

 

Morning dawned gray and chilly. A knock on our door dragged us both from the dregs of sleep. From outside, we heard Stephanaus.

“Wardens, M’lord Teagan says breakfast will be at the tavern. Your companions are waiting on you.”

Rubbing sleep from his eyes, Alistair sat up and muttered, “Did we oversleep? Still feels pretty early to me.”

“We’d better get up before someone reams us out for being late… again.” I said, then got up from the bed. “Damn, this floor is cold!” I walked mincingly across it as quickly as I could to where our clothes were and got dressed quickly. When I turned, Alistair was still sitting on the edge of the bed. “Hey! Get your gorgeous ass over here and get dressed! I’m not bringing you your clothes!”

“Aww, why not?” he teased. “You said the floor was cold! I might freeze my poor little toes off! If I have no toes left, how will I stand and fight darkspawn?”

I rolled my eyes. “Really?”

“Yes, really!”

“Oh, fine, you big baby! But you owe me!” I walked back over to the bed, bringing his clothes, boots, and armor.

He set them on the bed and pulled me to him. “Oh, I’m sure I can work something out to pay you back.” He gave me a huge fantastic grin.

I stared down at his very happy self and gave a sly smile of my own. Then I shoved him back on the bed.

“Wait… what?” He started to say.

“Early breakfast…” I announced.

 

“Well, ah, that certainly took the edge off.” Alistair sighed contentedly as he pulled on his boots. “You really never cease to amaze me, love.” He finished getting the rest of his armor on, then said, “Let’s get going.”

We left the bedroom and made our way to the entrance. Stephanaus was there by the door waiting. He didn’t seem to be terribly happy, but he opened the front door for us, and we left Teagan’s manor. We walked down the hill to the tavern. Oddly enough, it still seemed to be rather early. There were no other townsfolk up and about yet. I shrugged my shoulders as we continued on down the hill.

When we got to the tavern, the door was still locked. “What in the…” Alistair muttered. “Why would he say everyone was waiting on us if the tavern isn’t even opened yet?”

“Something seems off, that’s for sure,” I replied. “Well, I suppose there are two things we could do… and don’t give me that look, darling! I think we can take just a bit of a break, yes?”

Alistair pouted his lip for a moment but then grinned. “Whatever you say, love. As I said last night, you are worth the wait.” He glanced around the silent town. “So what are our two options then?”

“We look around, see what is here. We should probably pick up a few items for the rest of our journey. Thankfully, with Bodahn’s cart, we’ll have a place to keep everything. Stores will probably open soon anyways.”

“And two?”

“Head back to Teagan’s and find out what happened.”

“Well, I for one, don’t want to face that grump of a manservant Stephanaus again, so let’s see what this town has to offer. Half these buildings weren’t here ten years ago.”

As we walked around, I told Alistair about the conversation I had had with the merchant the night before.

“A golem? Really? Do you think it’s worth it to go to this town? It’s about what, two hours there and back?”

“I was thinking against the tougher darkspawn, like the ogres, it could be handy. Besides, didn’t the dwarves invent golems? And we are going to their capital city…”

“Hmm.” Alistair seemed to think about it. “Let’s discuss it with the rest of the group at breakfast. See where we stand then.”

We continued wandering around Rainesfere. We found an apothecary, a boat repair shop, a fishmonger, a butcher, a bakery, and much to Alistair’s delight, a cheese shop.

Finally, we walked over to the docks. There was a heavy fog sitting on the surface of Lake Calenhad and the sun was just now breaking through the clouds to the east. There was a bench on the edge of one of the branches of the dock, so Alistair and I sat down and watched the mist on the lake. He put his arm around me and held me close and I lay my head on his shoulder.

How long we sat there I wasn’t sure, but suddenly we heard someone calling out for us.

“Alistair! Kylara!”

It was Teagan. He ran out to the docks and up to where we were sitting. “Thank goodness I found you both!” He puffed for breath.

“What’s wrong Teagan?” I asked.

“I just got concerned when I went to your room and you both were gone. I didn’t know what to think when Stephanaus told me you had left without a word.”

“Now that is interesting,” Alistair said slowly. “Your manservant told us that breakfast was at the tavern and that everyone was already waiting on us. In fact, he seemed rather eager to get rid of us.”

“What? Now that is strange. Why would he do that, I wonder?” Teagan seemed genuinely perplexed by the situation. “Perhaps I will have a word with him when I return.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. If you want to ask, that is fine, but you don’t need to do so for our benefit,” I told Teagan.

“There was another reason I was glad to find you. I received a message late last night from someone in Shadmoor. Apparently, their village is under attack from darkspawn!”

Shadmoor? That was an odd coincidence… or was it?

Teagan continued. “The message came from someone named Matthias. He sent a messenger bird letting me know about the attack. He and a few other villagers retreated to his father’s basement, but now they are trapped. I know it is out of your way, but I am really hoping that you and Alistair will and help these people!”

“Of course we will! We fight darkspawn. That is what we do!” Alistair exclaimed.

“Kylara, I know you haven’t been riding a horse for long, but do you think you can handle your mare if she gallops?” Teagan asked.

“I-I don’t know. I think I’d be a little bit nervous.”

“She can ride double with me. I can handle my horse,” Alistair said firmly.

“Who else in your party can ride fast?”

“I know Zevran can. Maybe Leliana? I can ask her,” I said.

“Good. Let’s get to the tavern and ask. They’ll be open now.”

 

We got over to the Sloshed Shad. The front doors were now opened and we saw Hannah.

“Is everyone up, Hannah?” Teagan asked. “There is a bit of an emergency.”

“Yes, M’lord. They are eating breakfast.”

Teagan turned to us. “Go and grab some food. I’ll talk to Zevran and Leliana.”

I grabbed a bowl of porridge. Alistair did the same. Just then, I saw the merchant I had spoken to the night before. I walked up to him. “Felix, was it?” He nodded. “Seems we are going to be heading to Shadmoor after all.”

“I heard there was somthin’ goin' on up there. What is it?”

“Apparently darkspawn started attacking the village last night,” Alistair explained.

“Darkspawn? You don’t say. Probably a good thing I left when I did then.”

I didn’t really like Felix’s comment, but I let it slide. “How much for that control rod you have?” I asked.

“Nothin’.”

“Come again?” I asked.

“Nothin’. I’ll give it to you. Free.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Well, I don’t need it, and I have no interest in going anywhere near a darkspawn infested area. You want the golem, you’ll need the rod. It’s yours,” Felix said.

“So all I need is the rod? That’s it?”

“Not exactly. You need the activation phrase. It’s ‘dulef gar’… or so I was told. Hope it works out for you!” He reached into his pack by his chair and handed me the rod.

I took it from Felix. “Thank you.”

He nodded and said, “Good luck.” Then he got up from his table, grabbed his pack, and walked out of the tavern.

“Are you sure about this, love?” Alistair asked me.

I sighed. “Not really, but I guess we’ll see.” We then sat at the now empty table and ate our porridge quickly.

 

Not ten minutes later, Teagan walked back up to us with Zevran and Leliana behind him. Winston padded behind them.

“We’re ready to head out whenever you are,” Leliana said.

“Good. Let’s get to the stables.” I looked at Winston. “You coming too, boy?”

He barked in agreement.

“The rest of your group said they’d wait here at the tavern for you. If all goes well, I guess you’ll be back by late afternoon?”

“If it does go well, I hope so,” Alistair replied quietly.

We all got up and walked over to Bodahn’s cart, which had been parked near the stables. I climbed into the cart and grabbed my staff, Alistair’s sword and shield, Leliana’s longbow and her quiver, and Zevran’s daggers. “Do you want your chainmail, Alistair?” I asked.

“Probably should. You never know what you might be dealing with when it comes to darkspawn.” I found it and handed it to him. “Thanks,” he said with a smile. “Let me go run and change.” Encumbered with the weight of all his armor, he ran as quickly as he could back to the tavern.

I handed Leliana and Zevran their packs and grabbed Alistair’s and my own. I stuffed the golem rod into my pack quickly. Then I hopped off of the cart.

Alistair soon came back wearing his chainmail. He tossed the lighter leather armor back into the cart. “Teagan says we should take Sten’s horse since it is bigger and can carry the extra weight.”

If I had been nervous about riding on a fast moving horse before, now I was really getting scared. Sten’s horse was a beast. “C-can you handle him, Alistair?” I asked, my voice shaking slightly.

“Yes, love. Don’t worry. You will be safe with me. I’ll get on first, then I’ll help you up, all right?” He opened the stall and led Sten’s horse out. Before he got on, he walked up to the front of the horse and let it smell him. When he was satisfied that the horse was comfortable with his presence, he came back to the side, put his foot in the stirrup, and hoisted himself onto the horse’s back. Then he reached his hand out to assist me up.

It was awkward, but with Alistair from above and Zevran (delightfully) giving me a push from below, I was able to get settled on the back of the horse, behind the saddle where Alistair sat. Leliana handed me our packs. I slipped mine onto my back, and Alistair hooked his to the front side of the saddle. Then she handed me our weapons. The sword he was able to strap to his belt loop, but the shield proved to be too bulky since I needed to sit behind Alistair, so Leliana took it back.

“I’ll hold onto it for you, Alistair,” she said politely.

“Thanks, Leliana.”

I hooked my staff to my belt, then used a quick spell to keep it attached so that it would fall off with our fast riding. Just as Leliana and Zevran were getting onto their own mounts, Winston barked at me from below.

“Will he be able to keep up with horses running?” I asked Alistair.

“Probably not.”

I turned and looked down at Winston, who was whining a bit. “Winston, if you lose us… just follow our trail with your nose. You can do that, right boy?”

He barked in a way that showed me he understood.

We rode the horses at a walk back to the tavern where Teagan was waiting. To Alistair, he said, “Once you leave here, there will be a smaller road on your left a few kilometers up the main road. Take that road on the left and it will lead you to Shadmoor. I am guessing it might take you about an hour and a half. Maybe less.”

Alistair nodded, then to me he whispered, “Hold on tight to me, love.”

Trembling, I did as he asked. Then he turned the horse and moved out to the main road. Once there, he urged the horse into a gallop. Leliana and Zevran were following close behind us and Winston was trying to keep up as best as he could. I screamed a little; partly in terror, but also suddenly realizing the exhilaration of moving so fast.

After a few minutes, I felt the horse slow down.

“There is the road we need,” Alistair said. “I am also going to slow down, just a bit. This way the horses won’t get exhausted, and it might give Winston a chance to catch up to us.” He turned the horse left and then took off at a fast canter.

I could feel the rhythm change from the gallop. While this wasn’t quite as thrilling as the gallop, it was getting to be quite enjoyable.

“Do you think I’ll be able to learn to ride like you, Alistair?” I asked a bit loud, so he could hear me.

“With some practice, you most certainly could,” he replied. “I don’t know when we might get the chance, but I am sure there will be some time on the road where I can teach you.”

I hugged him a little tighter, my head resting against his back. “Thank you.”

 

About an hour in the journey, we decided to tether the horses and walk the rest of the distance. A sign had indicated that Shadmoor was about one kilometer away. We had no idea when we might stumble across the darkspawn, and didn’t want the horses to get injured or bolt. There was a group of trees in a field off the road that was close to a creek as well. Taking the ropes out of Alistair’s pack, we secured the horses to the trees, making sure they had enough reach to graze and drink. Confident that they would be all right, we grabbed our individual packs. Alistair also took his shield back from Leliana, thanking her for holding it for him.

“Let’s keep our weapons ready,” I said quietly. They all nodded in agreement. About ten minutes up the road I saw the archway into Shadmoor. There were a few bodies hanging from nooses attached to the arch. I winced.

“This is not the first time I’ve seen this. Do the darkspawn really think it necessary to do this to their victims?” I asked.

“I don’t think they ‘think’,” Alistair muttered. “They probably just do it scare and intimidate.”

“We should cut them down and bury them if we get the chance,” Leliana said softly. “It would not be proper to leave them there like that.”

I nodded in agreement.

Zevran glanced at me. “Your eyes are flashing silver… and Alistair’s are golden. Darkspawn are near, no?”

“They are here somewhere, yes. But as we can sense them, they can sense our presence as well,” I told Zevran. “They know we are here.”

Just then, several crude arrows landed in the dirt near us.

“Great. Genlock archers. Leliana, can you see them?”

She scanned the area. “There! I see them. They are in the shadows of that building.” She drew her longbow and fired. I heard the screech of dying darkspawn as her arrows found their targets. She turned and saw more hiding (poorly) near another building. Again, she shot, and they quickly died.

“Everyone spread out, but be careful.” Zev went into stealth and moved to the left. Leliana nimbly moved to the right and Alistair and I continued down the middle.

Near the village center, a hurlock alpha came out and began cruelly laughing. He was joined by another hurlock and a genlock… both emissaries. They began casting their spells as the alpha gave a signal. Several dozen darkspawn rushed out to surround us. I glanced at Alistair and grinned. He nodded with a smile of his own.

I pointed my staff at a large group rushing us and shouted, “Crith-thalmhainn!” The ground beneath them began to shake, knocking them down. With that group immobilized, I turned to the ones behind us. “Crann de reothadh!” They froze in their tracks, which Alistair took advantage of and began smashing them with sword and shield. I saw Leliana leap out and shoot the ones on the ground from the earthquake spell. Zev was flashing in and out of stealth, quickly killing a group on the left.

Just then I got hit by one of the emissary’s spells. It burned my arm like an acid splash and I screamed in pain. Fortunately, it was not the arm holding my staff. I pointed it at the alpha and both emissaries and shouted, “Stoirm gaoithe!” A massive whirlwind pinned all three of them to the ground. As Zev and Alistair worked together to kill the group on the left, I ran close to the pinned group. “Bom teine!” Instantly they were incinerated.

And just like that, it was over almost as quickly as it had begun. I breathed a sigh of relief. I muttered a spell to ease the pain on my arm, as Alistair reached into his pack to get some bandages for it. As he started walking to me, I saw his eyes flash golden again. The next few seconds I viewed as though they were in slow-motion.

A genlock rogue had appeared behind me, dagger drawn and ready for a kill move on me. Zevran grabbed his daggers and Alistair his sword, but both were too far away to make it to me on time. Just then a huge brown blur jumped out and tackled the genlock to the ground. Winston! He bit the throat of the genlock and crushed it in his jaws, killing it almost instantly.

I fell to my knees and hugged his huge head. “Oh, thank you, Winston! You saved my life just now!”

He huffed and wheezed. I saw why and quickly grabbed my water-skin from my pack. I squirted the water on his mouth to wash the darkspawn blood away. He looked grateful and then gave me a sloppy, wet lick.

Alistair ran up to Winston as well, kneeling down and scratching his big head behind the ears. “When we next get back to Rainesfere, I am buying you a big juicy steak, buddy! That was fantastic timing!”

Winston barked his approval as Zevran and Leliana also ran up to him to give him praise.

Alistair walked back to the bandages he had dropped and brought them back over to me. He then carefully wrapped my arm.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“Still might want Wynne to take a look at it when we get back,” he said.

I nodded. “I will.”

 

We gathered up everything and continued deeper into the village. In the center, there was a huge garden, and standing in the middle of it was a large stone figure.

“Is that the golem?” I asked out loud.

“I guess so,” Alistair shrugged. “Looks too ugly to be a normal statue.”

“Should we try and reactivate it now?”

He shook his head. “There are supposed to be survivors here. Let’s find them first.”

“You’re right.”

We continued on. Alistair’s eyes were flickering between gold and brown, meaning there were still darkspawn about, but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where.

At the end of the village was a very large house. I could definitely feel the darkspawn now. They were in this house. Silently, Alistair and I communicated. We knew what we needed to do, but for the sake of Zev and Leliana, we explained the situation.

Zev disappeared into stealth again, and Leliana strung her longbow onto her back and swapped it for some small daggers. Winston padded silently behind them. We opened the door as quietly as we could, but it still creaked on its hinges. Fortunately, no darkspawn rushed out at the sound. We fanned out slightly, carefully checking the entire house. No darkspawn anywhere. In the back of the kitchen, however, there was a small flight of stairs heading down and another door.

“Must lead to the basement,” I whispered.

We all walked down and into the basement. In the first area there were a few dead bodies; victims who apparently had been unable to flee the darkspawn in time. There was also a strange crystal cluster on a table. I looked at it, but could not determine its purpose, so I left it where I found it for now.

In the back of this room was another flight of stairs heading down. This basement was huge! I could also sense darkspawn in the next room. I opened the door carefully. This one, at least, didn’t make any noise to give us away. Beyond the door was a large library section, with hundreds of tomes on shelves. I let Zevran go in first to scout ahead. Even though he was in stealth, I could vaguely see him hold up four fingers. I nodded.

Leliana slipped past me and moved around the corners of the room quietly. Between the two of them, the four darkspawn were quickly killed. However, the noise did bring up another five from yet another section of the basement. Alistair and I quickly ran in and killed them with spells and sword.

Yet another flight of stairs in the back of the room led who knows where…

“Just how big is this bloody basement?!” Alistair muttered.

The next area seemed to be… a brewery? There were casks and kegs all over the place. We walked past them and then up a few stairs. There were more darkspawn to kill, and working together as a team, we eliminated them.

In the back of this room was a shining barrier that was reminiscent of the barrier that Wynne had used back at the Circle Tower to keep the demons and abominations at bay. There were several villagers behind the barrier.

“Thank the Maker, we are saved!” one woman cried out.

“Are you Matthias?” I asked a tall man in front of the rest of the group. “Bann Teagan got your message. We are here to help you.” I pointed to Alistair and myself. “We are Grey Wardens.”

“Grey Wardens? Here? Thank the Maker for our luck!” the man breathed in relief. “Yes, I am Matthias. Thank you for your timely rescue!” He then raised his hand and released the barrier.

“You all should be safe now,” Alistair said as the villagers began to file out. “We killed the darkspawn outside. Gather what you want from your homes, and head to Rainesfere.”

The villagers nodded and left the basement, leaving only Matthias.

“You are a mage?” I asked him.

“Yes, as was my father, Wilhelm, before me. But before you start going on about apostates and all that nonsense, know that my father served under King Maric fighting the Orlesians. We were allowed to live here in peace and quiet after the war was over.”

I shook my head slightly. “I wasn’t going to say anything. One of my best friends is an apostate and I could care less.” I saw Alistair making a weird face and sighed. “She helped save my life not that long ago. So no, I don’t judge if a mage is worthy or not just because they don’t belong to the Circle.”

Matthias seemed surprised but relieved at the same time.

“Why haven’t you left with the rest of the villagers?” Leliana asked.

“I need your help,” Matthias said slowly. “My daughter is missing. When the darkspawn came in and started trying to attack us, she ran further into my father’s lab. I hate to impose, Wardens, but would you please go and look for her?”

“Yes, we can do that,” I said.

“You will? Maker, thank you!” Matthias walked over to another door. “My father’s lab is just beyond here. There are defenses in place, but after seeing what you did to those darkspawn, I have no doubt that you will be able to get past unharmed. I will wait here.”

I nodded, and the four of us headed deeper into the underground lair of Wilhelm’s lab.

 

Eventually, we came across another shimmering barrier, but it allowed us to pass through it. I saw a small girl and next to her was a cat. She was talking to it.

“What do you mean you’ve never climbed a tree? Don’t cats like to be in trees?” We approached her and the said, “Oh, look Kitty! Someone’s come to play! We’re playing a guessing game, and it’s better with more people.”

“Uh, We? Who is ‘we’?” I asked the girl.

She giggled. “Why, Kitty and me, of course. You don’t see anyone else down here, do you?” Then her smile vanished. “If you aren’t here to play, you should leave. Kitty finds you… distracting.”

“The cat… finds me distracting?”

She nodded. “Kitty is clever. She says you will want to take me back to my father, but I’m not leaving Kitty. She would be lonely without me!”

Just then an eerie voice spoke. “You are so kind, Amalia. I would miss you dearly if you left.”

“Am I hearing things, or did that cat just… speak?” Alistair asked quietly. “I’m not going crazy, am I?”

“Then we are crazy together, friend Alistair,” Zevran smirked. “I hear it too.”

“Oh, that makes me feel a **whole** lot better!”

“That’s not really a cat, is it?” I asked Amalia.

She giggled again. “Of course she’s a cat! She just talks, that’s all.”

The cat’s eyes glowed as it said, “Talking is simple enough, once you know how.”

My eyes narrowed. “Right. What are you… really?”

“I am a cat. Really,” it said back to me. “Nothing you say will convince Amalia to go with you. She loves only me now. I am her friend, while you are just a stranger…”

“A stranger who finds you very… interesting,” I muttered.

“Oh?” the cat replied. “Do you hear that, Amalia? I have another admirer.”

Amalia sighed. “That’s because you are wonderful, Kitty.”

The cat took a few paces forward and sat in front of me. “I have been bound to this chamber for decades, cut off from all contact. It has been maddening. Release me, mortal, and let me have the girl. Let us return to her father and leave this place forever.”

“Let you ‘have’ the girl? You mean possess her, right?”

“That is such a crude way of putting it,” Kitty replied. “I do not wish to harm Amalia. I merely want to see your world through her eyes. Is that so wrong?”

I thought about it, then said in a sly voice, “All right, I’ll free you and you can have the girl.” Behind my back I waggled my finger back and forth, then crossed my fingers, hoping to convey to the rest of the group that I would allow no such thing. Apparently, they got it, as they said nothing to try and stop me.

“Thank you,” Kitty said, sounding relieved. “You are very gracious.” The 'cat' fell for my ruse, as it then said, “The mage’s wards hold me within this chamber and only a mortal may approach them. There is a trick to disarming the wards, but I do not know it. Perhaps you will succeed where the girl failed.”

Amalia jumped up and down in happiness. “Oh, this is so exciting! Kitty is going to be free!”

I approached the wards. There was a beam of energy emanating from one panel to another. I noticed that the panels all had arrows pointing in a specific direction. There were twenty-six total panels, and if I took away the starting and ending panel, that left twenty-four… I noticed the grid was five by five, meaning one panel was missing. Ah! I had seen puzzles like this before in the Tower. You had to slide the panels around to complete a pattern or picture. It was clear now that I had to get the energy from the very first panel over to the last panel using the arrow panels as my guide.

I began sliding panels around, being careful to not touch the energy beam. Slowly, but surely, the beam began to make its way across the entire puzzle until I finally connected the last piece. Then the shimmering barrier by the door vanished with a faint ‘pop’.

Kitty sighed audibly. “Yes, I can feel the magic fading! Oh! I had forgotten what it feels like to not be caged!” It’s voice ended in a growl.

This seemed to unsettle little Amalia. “Kitty, what’s happening?”

Kitty growled again. “A wonderful thing my dear. For the both of us!”

I gave ‘Kitty’ a smug look. “I said I’d free you. I didn’t say I’d let you live.”

Kitty screeched in anger. “Betrayer! You will not take the girl! She is MINE!”

Amalia backed away in fear. “No! Kitty, you are scaring me! I won’t let you inside of me! I won’t!” She then ran from the room.

“Amalia! NO!” Kitty screamed. The cat form began to glow and grow bigger. When the glow faded a Desire Demon stood in front of us.

“Great. Another one of these creepy demons to deal with,” I muttered.

“You! You cost me my freedom! I’ll kill you for this!” it shrieked.

“You’re welcome to try.” I waggled my fingers at it. “Bring it on, bitch!”

The demon screamed its defiance and summoned two minor rage demons to fight alongside it. I summoned a cone of cold and froze the rage demons, then circled around to fight the Desire Demon while my friends quickly killed the minor demons. Alistair ran up to help me. Having dealt with them on numerous occasions now, we were able to quickly defeat her.

Once it was dead, we started heading back up the passage. I had noticed more of those odd crystals like the one at the beginning of the basement. I collected them as we passed them.

“What are you doing?” Alistair asked.

“I don’t know what all these crystals are, but I intend to study them later.”

 

We finally go back to the room where Matthias was waiting, Amalia behind him.

“You did it! You saved her! Thank you so much!”

“I’m sorry, daddy. I didn’t mean to run away, but I was scared.”

Matthias hugged his daughter tightly. “It’s all right, butterfly. You are safe now and all of the bad creatures are gone.”

“May I ask you a question, Matthias?” I asked.

“Anything.”

“What do you know about the golem in the center of town?”

Matthias immediately frowned. “You mean… Shale? Why? Why does he interest you?”

“I ran into a merchant in Rainesfere, and he gave me a control rod that is supposed to control a golem. He said it was here in this town. I was hoping to… use it?”

“That damnable golem has brought us nothing but trouble,” Matthias said darkly. “My mother sold the rod years ago, after that… thing… killed my father.”

“So your father was the one the golem killed?” I said trying to be tactful… and failing miserably.

“That golem was my father’s servant for many years! Then one day my mother comes outside to find my father near the center of town with so many broken bones she could barely recognize him. That thing,” he gritted out, “was just standing over his body, frozen like he is now!”

“Matthias, I’m… sorry,” I said quietly. “But, the merchant also told me that you have been trying to get rid of Shale; for years now. I was only thinking that I could help with that? It might come in handy fighting darkspawn…”

Matthias scoffed. “Assuming it even works anymore. The damn thing has been stuck like that going on thirty years. But at least we would be rid of it at last. Fine. You want it, it’s yours. The phrase to reactivate it is, ‘dulen harn’. If it works, take it with you and get it out of our sight.” He then turned to his daughter. “Come now, butterfly. Let’s go back to our home and pack some stuff. We are going to take a little trip, you and I.” He then left the basement taking his daughter with him.

I turned to my friends. “Well, Let’s go and see if this golem Shale works then, shall we?”

I heard Alistair groan. “I **really** hope we aren’t about to make a huge mistake…”

 

Back outside in the village garden center, I approached the golem with slight trepidation. I took the rod out, and whispered,” Dulen harn…”

For a few seconds nothing happened, then dust began to fall from the golem as it slowly began to move. It creaked and more dust began to cloud up around it. The sound of rocks grinding together got louder and then with a sound like a large boulder crashing to the ground the golem stood in front of me staring at all of us with glowing eyes. It sighed.

“I knew the day would come when someone would find the control rod.” The voice was deep and gravelly sounding. “…and of **course** it is another mage! That is what it is, yes? Just my luck.” it muttered.

“Er, hello to you, too.”

“I’ve stood here in this spot and watched the wretched little villagers scurry around me for… oh, I have no idea how long. Many, many years.” the golem rumbled.

“And the villagers had no idea they were being watched?” Alistair asked. “Creepy…”

The golem sighed again. “I was just starting to get used to the quiet, too. Tell me, are all the villagers dead?”

“You saw the darkspawn attack?” I asked.

“Yes. I did. Seems to me like they got what they deserved.” The golem made a sound which I guess was its version of a laugh. “So tell me… did **all** of the villagers die?”

“Not all of them, no.”

“Some got away then? How unfortunate.”

“You didn’t care for them?” I asked.

Another sigh. “Familiarity breeds contempt, as they say… and after so many years here as a captive audience, I was as familiar with these villagers as one could possibly be. To watch them scurry here and there did make for a delightful change of pace.”

“Is your name Shale?”

“Perhaps. I may have forgotten after all the years of my former master calling me ‘golem’,” it growled. “‘Golem, fetch me that chair.’ ‘Do be a good golem and squash that insipid bandit.’ Oh, and let’s not forget, ‘Golem, pick me up… I tire of walking.’”

 _Sorry, Matthias, but if that is how your father treated Shale, then it’s no wonder he met a bad end…_ I thought. _But I thought with a control rod, Shale would have to do anything Wilhelm commanded. So how was it that Shale was able to kill him?_

Shale seemed to be thinking along the same lines. “It does have the control rod, yes? I am awake… so it must. I **see** the control rod. Yet I feel…” Shale’s glowing eyes narrowed. “Go on. Order me to do something,” he said.

I looked around. “Um, give Zevran a hug?”

Zevran looked at me incredulously. “Ah, Kylara… You don’t hate me that much? Do you?”

I turned to face him. “Of course I don’t hate you!” I then looked back at Shale.”Well?”

Shale just stood there. “Nothing. I feel nothing.” He shrugged his massive shoulders. “I feel no compulsion to carry our its command. Does this mean that the rod is… broken?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I got the rod for free.”

“Do you think Felix knew it was broken?” Alistair asked. I shrugged and tossed the rod on the ground.

“Hmm, I suppose if it can’t command me. I guess this means I have free will, yes?”

“If that is the case, shouldn’t that make you - I don’t know - happy?” I said.

“It is simply… What should I do? I have no memories, beyond watching this village for so long. I am finding myself at a bit of a loss.” He looked down at me. “What about it? It must have woken me for some reason, no? What did it intend to do with me?”

“We are Grey Wardens,” I said, indicating Alistair and me. “We have to fight the darkspawn and some of them are rather tough. Would you be willing to give me… us… a hand?”

“It is asking me if I want to kill darkspawn? What a novel thought.”

“You um, won’t kill me, like you did your former master. Will you?”

“Not unless it annoys me too much with its pointless questions.”

“Are you going to keep calling me… ‘it’?”

“Yes. Very likely,” Shale replied.

I sighed and said, “Then, I guess we are done here. Guess we should head back to Rainesfere. Will you come with us, Shale?”

“Well, since I do not know what else to do with myself, I suppose I could follow it around for a little while. Might even be amusing…”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was all originally Chapter 18, but since it was so long, I split it into two. Hope you've enjoyed it... ^_^


	20. Last Night in Rainesfere and Heading to Orzammar (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another member joins Kylara's misfit band of rebels! After receiving some devastating news, Kylara and Alistair discover a new bond between them, strengthing their relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AMAZING sketch of Alistair comforting Kylara after she receives disturbing news... From the lovely and fantastic Ambellina! Thank you!! (https://ambellinaleander.tumblr.com)
> 
> ** Mature Content Ahead **

As we were leaving Shadmoor, Shale following our little group, I remembered the bodies that the darkspawn had left hanging at the entrance. I was about to tell Leliana to shoot them down, so we could give them a proper burial when I heard a thump and a loud ‘squawk’!

I looked behind me. Shale had just walked near an exposed chicken coop and there was a bloody, feathery smear on the ground. Shale just looked back at me and shrugged as if to say, ‘What?’

“What did you do that for?” Alistair exclaimed.

“I hate birds. They are a pestilence on this world.”

“But there are some birds that are useful. Like the ones you eat! Like the one you just… crushed.”

“I approve of the ritual slaying of the foul beasts, but… it eats one? Disgusting!”

“They're really quite tasty. You just need to rip off the feathers, first. Then you cook them. I like the skin, myself…” Alistair grinned.

Shale’s rocky face made a grimace. “I think I am going to be sick!”

I couldn’t help it. I started laughing, soon followed by Zevran, Leliana, and then Alistair.

“I do not think I said anything funny…” Shale muttered.

 

Once we had stopped laughing, we got back to the task at hand. As Leliana shot the ropes holding the dead villagers, Alistair ran back to the village and found some shovels. We dug a grave for them in the field outside of town and quietly buried them. Leliana said words from the Chant of Light, and then we left Shadmoor. Shale had said nothing during the time we did this, but as we were walking away he finally spoke.

“Why did it do that? It did not even know them.”

“We could not just leave them there to rot. That would not have been appropriate.” I explained.

“But why bury the villagers in the dirt? Does it think that new ones will sprout out of the ground like the crops they plant?”

“Of course not! We bury our dead to honor them. We say prayers… It is just respectful.” I stumbled… _How do you explain this to a golem?_

Alistair spoke up. “Different cultures of Thedas have different ways that they take care of their dead. I have read that dwarves entomb their dead in stone. They call it ‘returning to the stone’ or something like that. The Dalish bury their dead and then plant a tree over the body to symbolize life from death. Most humans just bury their dead in the ground and have a ceremony to celebrate the life that that person lived. Sometimes they will burn the body and keep the ashes, especially if the person was of high importance.” He paused, then asked, “Does that help explain it at all, Shale?”

“So you are saying that if something happens to it, it will expect me to dig a hole and bury it in the ground?”

“Well, I certainly hope not! I think we would all prefer to live,” Alistair said, perhaps regretting the conversation. “but technically, yes. Eventually, we will die and someone will take care of our… remains.”

“Anyways,” I said, changing the subject, “Now that we have you with us, Shale, we should probably let you know our plans.”

“If it feels this is necessary, then I will listen… for now.”

I sighed. Speaking with Shale reminded me of my early conversations with Sten. “We are heading back to Rainesfere, which is another human settlement. We will stay there for the night and then in the morning we will start heading north to Orzammar.”

“It is going to the home of the dwarves?”

“Yes. We have an old treaty from the Grey Wardens that requests the aid of the dwarves to help us fight the Blight.”

“Are you going to be okay going to Orzammar with us?” Alistair asked.

“Why does it think this will bother me?”

“Didn’t the dwarves make you?”

“Yes, but I do not remember how or when I was created,” Shale replied. “Why does it ask?”

“I don’t think they make golems anymore,” Alistair said. “No one has seen an active golem in a long time. So, what if they start, you know... poking and prodding you. Trying to figure out how you were created?”

“Then I assume they will squash just as easily as it would… especially if it calls me ‘ugly’ again.” Shale gave Alistair a look.

“What? I never called you ‘ugly’!” Alistair exclaimed.

“Actually you did, Alistair,” Zevran piped up. “You said Shale was too ugly to be a statue.”

“Thanks, Zevran,” Alistair muttered. “How I was I supposed to know he could hear me back then!”

Shale made a sound of displeasure, which sounded like rocks grinding together.

Alistair turned to the golem. “I am sorry, Shale. You are not ugly. You are a very… handsome… golem.”

“It speaks as though it has other golems to compare me to. Its feeble attempt at flattery is not going to work.”

“Well, would you at least accept my apology?” Alistair begged.

“If this will cause it to stop talking for the time being, then yes.”

Wisely, Alistair kept quiet for several minutes. When he spoke next, it was in a whisper to me. “Should be getting near to where we left the horses soon.”

I nodded. About ten minutes later, we found the group of trees. Our horses were still there. I had been slightly worried that one or more of the refugees of Shadmoor might have taken them, due to their proximity to the road, but it seemed my fear was unjustified. Alistair walked over and untied the horses one by one.

Zevran mounted his, and after handing Leliana his shield again, Alistair mounted Sten’s massive horse. She set the shield down briefly to give me the boost I needed this time so that I was able to once again sit behind Alistair. Then Leliana strapped Alistair’s shield to her back and mounted her own horse.

“Why does it not have its own beast to ride?” Shale asked me.

“I am new to riding a horse and didn’t feel comfortable riding alone,” I explained. “Alistair offered to let me ride with him, so we could get to Shadmoor quickly.”

“So it does have a beast to ride?”

“Yes, my horse was left back in Rainesfere.”

“That is good. At least it won’t expect me to carry it… if it gets tired of walking.”

 

Because of Shale, we were not able to ride as fast as we had before. We still made good time, however, making it back to Rainesfere by sundown. Teagan was glad to see us. He was also surprised by Shale.

“Where did you get that?” he asked. “I don’t think anyone has seen a golem in ages!”

“He was in Shadmoor. A merchant I met here had the control rod, but it was broken,” I explained.

“The rod was… broken? Then how does it move?”

“I move because I choose to… and I follow it because I didn’t want to stay in that dreary village any longer,” Shale stated.

“It?” Teagan looked confused.

“He means me, Teagan,” I sighed for the umpteenth time.

“You are calling her, ‘it’? She does have a name, golem.”

Shale looked like he was about to explode at being called ‘golem’ again. I quickly intervened.

“Teagan, don’t worry about it. I don’t really care anymore.”

“He calls me ‘it’ too,” Alistair gave a half-smile. “Kind of funny, actually.”

“Ooh! I wonder if Shale will give us all pet names?” Zevran laughed.

“So, you are called… Shale?” Teagan asked.

“I don’t really remember, but that name does sound familiar… somehow.” Shale replied.

“Oh, Teagan, I should let you know that you will probably be getting the survivors of Shadmoor arriving here soon. We told them to come here, due to not being sure if their village is fully safe. We did kill all of the darkspawn we came across though.” I said.

“That is fine. We will make them welcome when they arrive.”

“So you are a person of importance here?” Shale asked of Teagan.

“Well, yes. I am the bann here. I am in charge of this village.”

“I do not remember if my village had a ‘bann’. My former master seemed to be in charge. He certainly liked to give orders,” Shale muttered.

“I don’t ‘give orders’ here really, I just try to see that things run smoothly on a day-to-day basis. I also make sure my citizens are protected and have enough food, water, and shelter,” Teagan said. “Speaking of which, Shale… Do you require any food or shelter for the night?”

“I do not ingest food, nor do I sleep. All I would ask is that the bann keep any flying vermin in his town away from me.”

“Flying… vermin?”

“He means birds,” I said.

“Oh, I see,” Teagan cleared his throat and then said, “I am not entirely sure how I can provide that… other than say you might want to stay away from the trees, perhaps?”

“I will take that as good advice,” Shale rumbled.

Turning back to the rest of us, Teagan then said, “Come now, your friends all await you at the tavern.”

We led the horses back to the stables and quickly stored our gear back in Bodahn’s cart. Then we headed back to The Sloshed Shad for dinner, where Alistair made good on his word by ordering Winston the biggest steak the tavern had to offer.

 

After dinner, I had Wynne look at my arm. She murmured a simple healing spell and then said, “It should heal just fine, Kylara. But do try to be more careful in the future?”

“I do try my best, Wynne,” I replied.

“I know, dear. What we do is dangerous and the battles will no doubt be getting more deadly,” She sighed. “My skills will most likely be needed more and more. I just hope I am up for it.”

“Wynne? Is there something you are not telling me?”

She hesitated, but then replied, “No. I am just perhaps… feeling my age. That’s all.” She then got up from her chair. “We should all probably get a good night’s sleep. It will take us a few days to get to Orzammar.”

I watched her walk down the hall of the tavern to her room. Something was bothering her… that much was clear. I only hoped I could get her to tell what it was.

 

The tavern began to quiet down for the evening as everyone made their way to their rooms for the night.

Alistair and I left and stopped by Bodahn’s cart. He slowly slipped out of his chainmail and handed it to me to place in the cart. Once down to just his breeches and shirt, he sighed. “Oh, that is much better, “ he muttered. “Don’t know why I left all that bloody armor on during dinner.” He slipped on a pair of leather boots I handed to him.

We then headed up the hill to Teagan’s manor in silence, both of us not really wanting to deal with Stephanaus the grump. After a few minutes, we arrived. Alistair knocked on the door. To our surprise, Teagan was the one who opened the door and greeted us.

As if to anticipate our question, he quickly said, “I gave Stephanaus the night off. Come.” He beckoned us inside. “Join me in my study for a little while.”

We followed Teagan to a very comfortable room with a lot of bookshelves and some leather chairs by a roaring fireplace. There were two mabari sleeping on a large cushion by the fire. One of them opened a sleepy eye to look at us before curling back up to sleep.

“They sleep a lot these days,” Teagan commented as he poured us a brandy. “I expect they won’t be with me much longer,” he sighed sadly. He then handed us our glasses and got one for himself. Then he sat down in one of the armchairs. Alistair and I took the chairs opposite from Teagan.

He took a sip of his drink and then said, “I want to apologize to the both of you. One, for the behavior of my servant, and two, for me trying to separate the two of you.”

Alistair took a nervous sip of his own drink, then coughed slightly as the liquor burned its way down his throat. “What do you mean?”

Teagan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I assumed - incorrectly, I might add - that the two of you were only… together for fun… like most young couples.” He took another sip, a hint of a smile on his lips as he saw both of us blushing. “But then I remembered that Alistair was raised in a monastery for a portion of his life and they would not… encourage… that kind of behavior.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Alistair muttered.

Teagan continued, “From what I have gleaned from my servant, and from what I have observed for myself… there is a much deeper bond between the two of you.”

I took my own sip of the fiery liquor. It made my eyes water. “Whew! That is strong stuff,” I said quietly and put the glass down on a nearby table.

Teagan chuckled lightly. “Never had brandy before, I am guessing?”

“No,” I picked it up and took another hesitant sip. “It’s interesting… and good. But strong too.”

Alistair took another sip from his glass and then addressed Teagan. “You were saying?”

“I’m sorry. I did not mean to sidetrack,” he apologized. “I was saying that there seems to be a deep bond between you both and that I should not have tried to separate the two of you. However, that being said,” He looked at us pointedly, “Eamon will still insist you find a noblewoman to marry, Alistair.”

The hope that had briefly sparked on Alistair’s face deflated. He picked up the brandy and gulped the rest of the glass down, paying no heed to it burning down his throat. He set the glass down on the table hard. “Teagan, I…” He hesitated, trying to choose his next words carefully. “I love Kylara! With all of my heart! To be apart from her… I just… can’t.” He gripped my hand and held it tightly.

“Which is why I am not going to say anything to my brother,” Teagan replied slowly.

“I-I don’t… understand.”

“Just because you may have to marry someone you don’t know, or don’t love,” Teagan explained with patience, “does not necessarily mean you would have to give up the one you do care for.” He took another sip of his drink. “How many Kings have had mistresses in the past? In noble circles, it isn’t uncommon at all for men – and even women - to have lovers on the side! Why I believe it is almost expected!” He smiled for a moment and then said, “You of all people should know this, Alistair.”

“S’pose I do,” he mumbled with a tiny hint of sarcasm. “But…”

Anticipating what he was about to say, I quickly interjected, “I guess that could be an option.” I gave Alistair’s hand a squeeze. He looked me in the eyes and I gave a very subtle shake of my head. Then I turned back to Teagan. “It gives us something to think about, at least.” I then gave an exaggerated yawn. “Thank you for the drinks, but I guess we should get to bed now. We will have a long day tomorrow - to make any progress to Orzammar.”

“Of course, please don’t let me keep you. Goodnight.”

“Night, Teagan,” I quietly replied.

 

Once we got to our room, I quickly shut the door behind me. Alistair was wobbling slightly, no doubt the combination of three beers at the pub and consuming the whole glass of brandy that Teagan had offered contributing to that. He sat down on the mattress of the bed. I fetched him a glass of water and brought it to him, but instead of drinking it, he just sat there and held it.

“Why did you…” he started to say, but I put my finger to his lips.

“Let me please do the privacy spell,” I quickly said. He nodded. I put my hands to his lips and ear, and he repeated the gesture as he had the night before, although a bit clumsily. I murmured the spell, then said, “I know what you were about to say back there to Teagan, and you are wondering why I stopped you, yes?”

“I though’ we’d had this discushun back at Eamon’s,” he muttered. “You are not jus’ goin’ to be a mistress to me!”

“ **I** know that and **you** know that. But Teagan does not. Understand?” Comprehension slowly dawned in Alistair’s bleary eyes. I continued, “If this means it will allow us to stay together in his eyes, then I say run with it for now. Again, we have time to plan. We will work something out. I know.”

He sighed deeply, “’S good tha’ you kept your head in the conversashun. I would’ve jus’ ruined it…” He paused then mumbled, “Why’s room spinnin’?”

“Only because you’ve had a little too much tonight.” I chided gently. “Three beers, Alistair? And then the whole brandy? When did you start drinking so much?”

“Jus’ lost track, I guess…” he slurred.

“Come now, drink the water. It might make you feel a little better.”

He nodded and drank it down. I took the glass from him and put it on a nearby table. Then I began slowly removing his clothes.

I pulled off his boots and put them aside. Then I unlaced his linen shirt and pulled it off. He closed his eyes and sighed.

I got him to lay down on the bed fully and then slowly pulled off his breeches. I could clearly see he was aroused, despite his drunken state.

“Want you,” he mumbled.

“You are drunk, love. I am not going to take advantage of you in this state.” _As much as I may want to_ , I thought. I removed my own boots and then my robe.

“You can. I don’ mind…”

“I really don’t think it is a good idea,” I said softly as I pulled the blankets down, which was a bit awkward since he was lying on them, but I managed. I covered him up.

“Oh, all right.” He sounded a bit petulant.

I gave a soft smile and leaned over to gently kiss his lips. “Sleep well, my Alibear.” I then crawled into bed next to him. As I snuggled closer, I could already hear him snoring softly. “Love you,” I whispered. I quickly drifted off.

 

Morning arrived bright and sunny, which pleased me. My moods (more often than not) did seem to mirror the weather. Cloudy skies made pensive and quiet, where sunny weather made me feel light and happy. I saw that Alistair was still sleeping. Having experienced what too much beer could do to person myself, I could only imagine Alistair wasn’t going to be too happy once he finally woke. I quietly slipped out of the bed, grabbed our clothes, and set them down near the tub.

I pumped the water until I had the tub about three-quarters full, then began the process of heating it. Once done, I slipped off my underclothing and stepped into the tub. Sitting on the bench submerged me to just below my neck and I leaned my head back against the edge of the tub. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warmth.

“You started without me?” I heard Alistair pout.

I opened my eyes to see him standing above me, trying his best to look upset, but all too soon he was grinning.

“Well then, get your gorgeous butt in here then!” I teased back.

“Don’t have to tell me twice!” he said, but then winced. “Ooh! My aching head…”

“Come in, and I’ll help,” I told him.

He slipped off his braies and climbed into the tub. He completely submerged himself, then came up, shaking the water off of his head. Then he sat next to me.

I put my hands on his head and murmured, “Thoir air falbh am pian seo.” <Take away this pain.> I could see that he immediately was feeling much better.

“Thanks, love. That helped a lot.”

“Do not go thinking that I will come to your rescue again if you drink that much in the future!” I scolded but gave him a smile.

“Yes, ma’am!” He gave me a salute, then leaned close to me. “Now I should properly thank you for taking such good care of me last night…” He pulled me onto his lap and began eagerly kissing me.

I had learned my lesson from the other night and this time I was holding firmly to his waist and my legs were hooked around his backside. I wiggled myself over his growing erection and heard him groan.

“My love is eager this morning, yes?” He grinned.

“Since I didn’t get any of you last night, I am **very** eager.”

“That is good. Because I intend to ravish you senseless this morning…”

 

The water had cooled substantially by the time we left the tub. I was well-loved but looked like a prune at the same time.

“Maybe we shouldn’t take so long in next water-based sex activity! I look like a little old lady!” I giggled as I dried off.

He came up behind me and kissed my neck. “You are beautiful no matter how you look.” He then took the towel from me and used it to quickly dry himself off, then he hung it on the edge of the now empty tub.

“And are you still going to say that to me in fifty years?” I jested.

Alistair had a strange look on his face, but then it was quickly covered by a grin - though I noticed it wasn’t quite as wide as the ones I’d seen from him before. There was also a hesitation before he spoke next. “Of course I will…” he replied and gave me a quick kiss. He turned away and quickly began gathering his clothes.

“Alistair? Is there something you are not telling me?”

“What? No,” he said, a little too quickly. His eyes also looked a bit guilty.

There was something wrong, but I decided to not press the issue for now. However, he and I were going to be having a chat tonight. Without another word, I got dressed in my robes and boots.

He only had his linen shirt, breeches and boots to put on. We’d get his armor out of the cart before we left town today.

I gave him a small smile and then said, “Are we ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Then let’s head out to grab some breakfast.”

 

We got to the tavern just as Hannah was opening the door. “Good morning,” I greeted her.

“Morning m’lady. Your friends are all up and waiting. I’ll get breakfast set up.”

We walked in. Winston bounded over to me and yipped a greeting. I gave him a scratch behind his ears. “Sleep good, buddy?” He barked happily.

I sat at the bar next to Leliana, who gave me a knowing wink and smile. “I am sure you slept well too, yes?” she said with a giggle. I blushed.

Alistair gave me a quick kiss and said, “I’m going to go ahead and grab my armor and get it on now. Be back in a bit.”

“’Tis a bit sickening to watch you two,” I heard Morrigan mutter. “But I imagine it at least takes your mind from our situation. Have it your way.”

“We still take our duty seriously, Morrigan. We fought plenty yesterday in Shadmoor.”

She looked up from her book. “And what happens if one of you needs to choose love over duty? What then?”

Suddenly it seemed that everyone in the tavern was looking at me. Flummoxed, my face flushed pink. I finally managed to blurt out, “That is a… ridiculous question.”

Morrigan smirked and replied, “And I have my answer.” She then turned back to her book.

Leliana put her arm on my shoulder. “Do not worry about what Morrigan says, I am sure that both you and Alistair will do the right thing when the time comes.”

“Will we? Really?” I said, doubt beginning to creep into my voice.

Just then Alistair returned, fully dressed in his leather armor, sword strapped to his belt. He flashed me a smile. Maker, but he was so handsome. I couldn’t help but sigh.

“So, did I miss anything exciting?” he quipped as he sat on the stool next to me.

“No. Not really,” I replied softly.

Hannah and the other staff then began bringing out bowls of porridge and platters of sausages. Another girl poured some kafija for us.

“By the way,” Alistair said to me, “The shops are now opening. We might be able to grab a few things before we head out.”

“Good.”

His face suddenly looked concerned. “Something wrong?”

I shook my head. “Nothing that can’t wait until later.” I gave a faint smile. “We can talk after we set up camp for the night.”

“All right, if you think that is best.” He then tucked into his porridge.

I asked Hannah if she had any dried fruit and honey. She went back into the kitchen and brought out some tart berries and a small jar of honey. I thanked her, mixed them in, and began eating.

After we had all finished, Teagan walked into the tavern. “Good to see you all this morning,” he said cheerfully. He took a mug of kafija that Hannah offered to him and took a sip. “So, my guess is that you will probably be staying on the road next to the Calenhad for probably another two days before you will see the road leading up the Frostbacks heading to Orzammar. From there, I would say it will be another two days from there before you get to the gates of the city. I wish you all good luck and fair weather for the journey.” Teagan came up and gave me a brief hug, and shook everyone else’s hands (all except for Morrigan, who just nodded and smiled at him).

“I don’t know when we might see each other again, Teagan, but take care of yourself,” I said, sad to be leaving. “Thank you for everything.”

“I will send a message to Eamon, letting him know you are all on your way today. Also, should you ever get to another town where you can send us a message as well, any news would be appreciated.”

“We will do our best,” I said.

 

We left the tavern and I stopped over by the field where Shale had spent the night. “Morning, Shale. How are you doing?”

“It wants to know how I am doing? Fine, I suppose. I appreciated the bann’s idea to stay away from the trees. No birds bothered me.”

“Um, that’s good. I’ll let him know. I wanted to let you know we will be heading out soon.”

“It is still planning on going to Orzammar?” he asked.

“Yes, though it will probably take us about four days to get there.”

“So long? Oh, right. It has to do those flesh-related functions like eating and sleeping. Very well. I will meet you at the gates here.”

 

I then left Shale and made my way to the apothecary. I figured it might be a good idea to stock up on potions and poultices. I walked into the store. The air inside was pungent with the smells of various herbs and oils. I picked up several crucial items and then in the corner of the store, I saw the same kind of bar soaps that Teagan had in his home. I walked over and inspected them.

“Do you like them?” a small woman came up to me. “I just learned how to make this style of soap about four months ago, and it has been very popular.”

“How much are they?”

“Normally I charge five sovereigns for each, but as you are friends with our bann, and have done so much for us and Redcliffe, I will sell them to you for three sovereigns each.”

“That is more than fair, thank you.” There were some different colors on some of the bars, though most were white. “Is there a difference between the colored ones?” I asked.

“Oh yes, some of the colored ones, I was tinkering around and added some essential oils to the recipe. This light purple has lavender and tea tree. This green bar has elfroot and mint, and this one has rose oil,” she said as she pointed to a pale pink bar.

I picked up the rose bar. Then I spotted a tan bar. “What about that one?”

“This is my newest one. Vanilla and sandalwood.” I sniffed it. “Do you like it?”

“Yes. I take both of these, along with the other items I have here.”

She wrapped up the soaps in oiled paper and cloth and bagged up the rest of my items. “Thank you so much for your business!” she exclaimed as I paid out the gold for the total.

As I left the store, I saw Alistair walking out of the cheese shop with a medium-sized wheel under his arm. _Figures he couldn’t resist_ , I chuckled. “Hope that won’t spoil while we are on the road,” I joked when I approached him.

“Well, I’ll just have to eat it quickly then!” He flashed me a smile. “Of course you are more than welcome in joining me in my cheese obsession…”

“With some of the ones I have seen you eat, probably not!”

He shrugged, “Your loss, love. More for me!”

We got over to Bodahn’s cart. I climbed in the back and began sorting and putting away the stuff I had just purchased. Alistair handed me his cheese wheel. I found the coolest spot I could and put it in a box with some other food items. Then I climbed down after grabbing my staff.

We retrieved our horses from their stalls and mounted up, except for Wynne, who once again decided to ride on the cart.

“You know, Wynne,” Alistair said as rode up and stopped his horse near her. “Kylara has asked me to teach her how to ride. I could also help you learn if you’d like.”

“That is appreciated, Alistair, but I think that I will be just fine riding on the cart. I really did not find it comfortable when I had to ride the horse up to Haven.”

“Well, if you ever change your mind, just let me know.”

“Not likely to happen, but thank you all the same.” Wynne smiled gently at him.

 

Finally, we were ready to leave. Most of the village came to see us off. Just as we were ready to pull out, I saw Matthias, his daughter Amalia, and a few other refugees from Shadmoor walking into the town. Teagan came up and greeted them and I waved at him. He smiled when he saw me but it faded when he saw Shale. I saw him mention something to Teagan. Whatever Teagan said back clearly made Matthias feel better, as I saw him relax.

Zevran and Leliana were in the lead, followed Wynne and the cart. Alistair and I were behind the cart, and Morrigan, Shale, Sten, and Winston brought up the rear.

“To Orzammar!” Alistair exclaimed.

As we left Rainesfere behind, I saw that Teagan had tears in his eyes, which he quickly wiped away.

“Be safe, all of you!” He shouted as we left.

 

The sun was high in the sky and we were now heading east on the road, still following the shore of Lake Calenhad. We had made fairly good progress, but I was getting a little hungry.

“Should we stop soon for lunch?” I asked Alistair.

“Hungry? Hmm, yes I suppose we can. The horses are definitely making a difference in our travel time.”

“I’ll ride up and let Zev and Leliana know, so they can look for a spot for us to pull over.” I gently nudged my mare’s flanks and she moved a bit faster.

Alistair nudged his own horse forward as well to follow me. He pulled up close to the cart and watched me catch up to Leliana.

“Alistair, may I have a word?” Wynne said as she watched the expression on his face.

“Of course, anything for my second favoritest mage ever,” he replied. Then he actually tore his gaze away from me and looked at her smile. “Why are you smiling like that? You look suspiciously like the cat who swallowed the pigeon.”

“Canary,” she corrected.

“What?”

“I look like the cat that swallowed the canary. That is how the saying goes.”

Alistair laughed. “I once had a very large cat, but that's not my point. My point is why are you smirking?”

Wynne chuckled. “You were watching her. With great interest, I might add. In fact, I believe you were… enraptured.”

“Well, she's our leader. I look to her for guidance!”

“Oh, I see. So what guidance did you find in those swaying hips, hmm?”

“No, no, no, I wasn't looking at, you know, her hind-quarters…” Alistair mumbled, his cheeks turning scarlet.

“Certainly.”

“I gazed… glanced, in that direction, maybe, but I wasn't staring. Or really seeing anything even.”

“Mm-hm, Of course.”

“Who knew you could be so evil, Wynne,” Alistair growled.

“It comes with age, dear. But I might as well voice my other… concern.”

“And what might that be? Dare I even ask?”

“It seems you and Kylara are inseparable these days. Joined at the hips, almost.”

“You don’t think that's a bit of an overstatement?!”

“Well then, now that you're in an intimate relationship, you should learn about where babies really come from,” Wynne smiled gently.

“Pardon?”

“I know the Chantry says you dream about your babies and the good Fade spirits take them out of the Fade and leave them in your arms, but that's not really true. Actually what happens is that when a girl and a boy really love each other – ”

“Andraste's Flaming Sword! I know where babies come from!” Alistair exclaimed.

“Do you? Do you really?”

“I would certainly hope so!”

“Oh, all right then. Aww, look, you're all red and mottled. How cute.”

“You did that on purpose!”

“Now, now Alistair, why would I do such a thing?”

“Because you're wicked. That frail old lady act? I'm so not fooled,” He stifled a laugh. “I'm on to you now!” Then he frowned.

“What’s wrong now, dear?” Wynne asked.

Alistair was quiet for a moment, then he said softly. “It is just that… we may not really have to worry about that.”

“You are not worried that she might get pregnant while we travel? That could be dangerous, you know,” Wynne said sternly. “It seems that the two of you might want to curb your... Ah, how should I put it? Enthusiasm - for each other?”

Alistair sighed. “You don’t understand, Wynne.”

“And you are not helping me understand right now, Alistair. I care about you and Kylara a great deal. So stop beating around the bush and just tell me, please.”

“We can’t have children.” He swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat. “It’s the taint in our blood. All of the Grey Wardens I knew of that had children, had them before they became Wardens.”

There was shock on Wynne’s face. “Have you told this to her?”

“I… No. She doesn’t know. Duncan was going to explain to her all of the things that happen after you become a Warden - after the battle of Ostagar. But obviously, he didn’t get that chance, and I hadn't thought about it… until now.”

“Don’t you think you should tell her?! This is very important information!”

“You are right Wynne. There are things I should tell her. Things that are not going to make her happy with me. But she does need to know.” He sighed again. “I will tell her tonight.”

 

After a dinner of steamed fish, some of the cheese that Alistair had bought, and some roasted vegetables, we all settled down into our tents. We left the flaps open to enjoy a breeze off of the lake.

I sat in our tent facing Alistair, who was looking a bit anxious. It was clear he wanted to talk, but it seemed he also didn’t know how to start. I finally decided to say something.

“So,” I began. He looked up at me apprehensively. “May I ask why you hesitated before answering me this morning?”

“What about?”

“When I asked if you thought I’d still be beautiful in fifty years? You hesitated. Why?” When he didn’t answer right away, I placed my hand on his knee. “Please, Alistair, There is clearly something you need to tell me… and from the silence, I am guessing is it not going to be something good.”

He sighed. “I… just don’t know where to start. This will not be easy for you. But it is something that Duncan was going to discuss with you, after Ostagar.” Alistair’s breath hitched and he took my hands into his own. “Do you remember right after your Joining, I asked you if you’d had any dreams?” I nodded. “He then said that he could explain that and more in the months to come?”

“Yes,” I replied softly. “I remember.”

“And… now I have to be the one to… tell you.”

“Please, love. You are really starting to worry me. Tell me.”

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Well, to answer your first question, about looking good in fifty years? The truth is… Grey Wardens do not typically live longer than about twenty to thirty years after their Joining.” I gasped as he slowly continued. “The taint… It is a death sentence for us. When it is time… you will hear a Calling. That is what I have heard some of the other senior Wardens refer to it as. You will start having nightmares again. Really bad ones.”

I gave a nervous laugh. “Worse than the ones I am already having?” When I saw the look on his face, I then said, “Y-you really are serious! Shit…” A moment passed, then I asked, “So, what do we do when this happens?”

“Um, from what I have heard, Wardens who hear the Calling will go down to the Deep Roads to battle darkspawn, until the end comes. ‘In Death, Sacrifice.’ It is one of the reasons the dwarves respect us.”

“What are the ‘Deep Roads’? I heard Bodahn mention them before too.”

“They are a massive network of tunnels that used to connect all of the major dwarven thaigs. Now they are just home to darkspawn. The dwarves have sealed most of them off to protect Orzammar.” He then shook his head. “But now I am sidetracking. There was one other thing I had to tell you. Wynne sort of reminded me about it… earlier today.”

“Can’t be worse than an early death sentence, right?” I said, half-jokingly.

“Ah, well. I suppose. I guess my next question will help me to better explain. You see, Wynne sort of mentioned this afternoon that she was concerned about you, um, getting with child, while we were traveling.”

“Oh, I have been taking a contraceptive tea, since we started becoming intimate. It is a recipe that all female mages are req – What?”

“I see.”

“See? I’m sorry, Alistair. I should have told you as well. But yes, I can’t very well become pregnant now.”

He looked at the ground. “So, you do want children?”

“I… Well, yes. Now that I am no longer part of the Circle – they discouraged us from having children – Yes, once things are settled and we complete our duty, I think I would like to.” I suddenly saw tears shining in his eyes. “Alistair? What is wrong? I mean - with you possibly becoming King - I guess I…” He mumbled something so quiet, I couldn’t hear. “Could you… repeat that? A bit louder, please?”

“With both of us as Grey Wardens… I-I don’t think… we… you…”

“What are you trying to tell me, Alistair. Please, just say it.”

He finally blurted it out. “You can’t have children.”

“What? Why?” I exclaimed in shock.

“The Joining… it made you barren.”

 

For a few moments, I just sat there, utterly stunned. There had been a part of me that had accepted the fact I would probably not have a child of my own, because of my being a mage. But once I had left the Circle, a spark had been ignited. A fantasy had begun in my mind of children. Alistair’s and mine. A boy with my reddish-brown hair, a girl with Alistair’s medium blond. Even when I knew he would probably become King, the dream didn’t stop. In fact, it had become stronger. Now, to have those hopes completely crushed…

I slowly stood up and exited the tent. I just stood outside staring at the campfire. The news of my life being cut short by the Joining had been bad enough, but now also knowing that I would never be able to have children… ever? My eyes were dry for the moment, but I knew the tears were there and that it wouldn’t take much for them to start.

As if he couldn’t stand my silence, I heard Alistair whisper, “Kylara?”

That did it. The tears began pouring from my eyes. Embarrassed that my other friends would see me in this state of distress, I ran.

I left the safety of the campfire and tents and ran past the area where the cart and the horses were tethered. There was a large, strangely smooth, boulder close by the shore of the lake and it was here that I collapsed, my chest heaving with heavy sobs.

I had no idea how long I had been there. My tears had long since run dry and I was just staring out at Lake Calenhad. Eventually, I felt something nudging me. I looked over to see Winston looking at me with his expressive dark eyes. He whined and nudged me again.

“Oh, Winston!” I hugged his neck. “I know I shouldn’t blame Alistair for telling me this news. I mean, someone had to since Duncan is gone. Though I wish Duncan had told me more than just cryptic hints of what I would lose by becoming a Grey Warden…”

Winston lay down next to me and put his big head on my lap. I scratched his ears, his presence giving me a small amount of comfort.

I heard boots crunching in the gravel behind me and knew it was Alistair.

“Kylara?” When I didn’t turn to face him, he sighed. “Look, I know you are mad at me. I am sorry I told you the way I did. I should have handled it much better than I did. But please tell me I haven’t ruined things between us. I… can’t lose you. Not now…”

I still couldn’t face him. I thought I was all cried out, but fresh tears began to fall. Winston got up from the ground and disappeared from my sight. I had no idea where he was going or why had decided to leave me, especially when my emotions were all in knots again.

From behind me, I suddenly heard Alistair exclaim, “Hey! What are you… Let go!” Winston growled and whined. “All right,” Alistair said, “I’m going!”

 _Was he driving Alistair away because he thought I didn’t need him?_ I quickly stood up and turned around to find Alistair coming towards me - being pushed by Winston!

Something in my face must have changed because he then started running and upon reaching me, swept me into his strong arms.

Holding me tightly to him, he whispered, “I’m sorry. So very sorry! I never meant to hurt you, love. Please tell me I haven’t lost the one thing I care about in this whole world!”

Tears were still streaming down my face, but I managed to say, “I know this is not your fault… and I am not mad at you, not anymore really. Duncan should have told me more before my Joining…”

“If you knew then, what you know now… Would you still have joined the Wardens?”

I sighed. “Duncan saved me from being sent to the mage’s prison for my involvement with Jowan’s escape. So I don't think I really had a choice. It was either prison, join, or end up like Ser Jory. Would I have appreciated some warnings about the things that would happen to me? Yes. Would it have changed my mind? No. I knew I wanted this even before Duncan’s enigmatic ‘dreams and more’ message.”

“Why were you so sure?”

“Because of… you.” I replied softly.

“Me?”

I took a deep breath and then said, “Yes. You. It was that very first smile that you gave me - when we first met. I knew at that moment that you were going to somehow become a part of my life. And you did. No matter if you take the throne or not, Alistair… I will always be with you.”

A quiet moan escaped his lips and he slowly backed me up until my back was pressed up against the boulder. He then leaned down and kissed me. But it was like our very first kiss. Shy, hesitant, and oh, so very soft. This kiss was repeated over and over until finally, he slowly slid his tongue across my lips, and then kissed them one last time.

He pressed his forehead against mine. Eyes closed, he whispered, “You mean so much to me. I love you and I **never** want to upset you like that again, Kylara.” He hesitated for just a moment then said, “I… want you. But only to… comfort you… if you want me to.” He sighed. “However, I would completely understand if you don’t…” His voice trailed off when he felt me undoing his belt and untying the laces on his leather pants. “Kylara, don’t think I am forcing you to - ah!”

“You aren't. I want to do this… because I love you.” I knelt down and took him into my mouth. I relaxed my throat and took him as deep as I could, then slowly withdrew, my tongue lapping against his crown. I did this, again and again, each time going just a little bit faster.

I felt Alistair’s hands grasp my head gently. He groaned, “Maker, what you are doing… feels so damn good!” He looked down to watch, his breaths coming in short gasps. “Not going to last much longer… if you keep that up!”

I withdrew, but gave hungry licks and murmured, “Don’t hold back. I love taking you this way. Your taste drives me wild.” I took him back into my mouth as deep as I could, my hands gripping his ass tight.

Alistair let go of my head and placed his arms up against the boulder for support. I could feel him tensing up, so I moved even faster. The sounds of his pleasure made me want him even more. I loved making him feel this way.

“Kylara… Oh, f-fuck!” I had never heard him use that word before and it made me crazy. His body stiffened and he began coming in my mouth. I swallowed and swallowed until he was practically shaking. Finally spent, I released him from my grasp. I planted a gentle kiss against his stomach and slowly stood up.

Face to face with him, I stared deep into his eyes. “Your eyes… they are like molten gold right now. Not like when you are fighting darkspawn. There they are just brilliant. This color, I know it is for me.”

“Likewise, love. Your eyes look like starlight. Pinpoints of silver and blue. They are uniquely you and I love them.”

“And the rest of me?”

His answer was a searing kiss, filled with desperation, longing, and passion. His hand began fumbling for the buckles and ties on my robe, finally getting it to where I could slide out of it easily. My undergarments were discarded just as quickly. Still not breaking the kiss, he swiftly removed his leather vest and then ripped his shirt off, throwing the tatters on the ground. His pants were a bit more of an issue, especially with his boots still on, so he just moved them further down his legs for the moment.

His lips left mine to eagerly suck my nipples deep into his mouth, his right hand moved slowly down to my sex, and he groaned when he felt my arousal. He stroked my clitoris gently, making me cry out.

“Maker’s Mercy, you are so wet! I need to taste you!”

“Alistair, yes! I want that! Please…”

He kissed his way down from my breasts as he knelt down in front of me. He lifted one of my legs and put it over his shoulder. Light feathery kisses were placed on each of my thighs, while his fingers continued to tease me. I squirmed and moaned louder. Then utter bliss as his tongue started moving against my clit.

My cries urged him on as he licked and sucked faster, then to my surprise, I felt his finger enter to stroke me in time with his mouth. One finger soon became two and I knew a powerful orgasm was about to hit.

It didn’t take long. The combination of his fingers, tongue, and mouth soon had me clenching and screaming.

He slowed down but continued hungrily devouring me until I was quivering, my legs trembling. Then with a final kiss to my sex, he gently lowered my leg back to the ground and stood back up. Both of us stood there facing each other, just breathing hard for a moment. Then he kissed me deeply and I could taste myself on his lips and tongue.

“I’d like to try something new…” he then murmured in my ear. “If that would be all right?”

“What do you have in mind?” I asked, curious.

He bent down and picked up a piece of his torn shirt. “Do you trust me?”

I was a little nervous, but I whispered back, “Yes.”

He turned me around so that I was facing the boulder and then he used his torn shirt to blindfold me. Voice rumbling, he asked, “Are you ready?”

“Y-yes.”

I felt his lips grazing my neck, followed by his tongue, and I shivered. Not being able to see what he was doing let me focus on what I was feeling - and it felt really, really good. He gently bit my earlobe, then immediately kissed it to soothe. His hands came around and started lightly caressing my breasts.

I could feel his erection pressing up against my backside. He moved his hips to rub it up against me, but still made no move to enter me. He kept playing with my breasts, lightly pinching my nipples, while his teeth nipped gently at my neck, back, shoulders. Each little bite with quickly assuaged by a lick and a kiss.

The constant teasing soon had me writhing with need. “A-Alistair,” I gasped, “I want… **need** you inside of me… please…”

“Patience, my love,” he breathed in my ear. He carefully pushed me down closer to the boulder but kept my hips where they were. I then felt his fingers caressing my sex, probing, teasing until I was all but begging.

He withdrew his hand and it was quickly replaced with his cock. He rubbed it up and down against my entrance… and finally, I felt him slide his thick length into me. I cried out in pleasure and relief.

He thrust as deep as he could. “So hot,” he groaned. “You feel so… incredible.” He pulled back out until just his tip was inside, then thrust up again, and again. His lips kissed my neck. Then I felt him clamp down and suck lightly against my skin.

“More, please,” I cried out. “Need more of you!”

Keeping his thrusts measured and steady, he instead gave me a light slap on my right ass cheek. The sting of it surprised me and I threw my head back and moaned loudly.

“Mmm… You liked that?”

“Yes. Oh, yes!”

“Do you want me to do that again?”

“Please!”

So he did, this time on my left side. He felt me getting even slicker as he continued thrusting. Another light slap to the right and to the left. He could feel my pleasure and I was rewarded by him moving faster. His right hand came around to my front and began stroking my clitoris. “Kylara… I love you! But I feel like I need to... I want… want to f- ”

“Say it, Alistair. I want to hear you say it…” I moaned.

I felt him thrust even faster. “Maker's Breath! F-fuck! I need to fuck you!”

“If you need it, then do it! Maker, I want it! I need you!”

“Y-you… Ah! About to… come!”

The intensity was so extraordinary, something strange began to happen. I could feel magic building within my core. Not knowing what to do with it, I focused it into the boulder I was desperately holding on to. “Alistair, my love! I want all of you… please!” I shouted.

He shouted my name as he came. Wave after wave, I could feel it deep within me. I felt the boulder crack as my own climax came, milking him for more. I felt him thrust hard one last time and then he collapsed on top of my back, panting.

After a few moments, he turned me around and gently removed the blindfold from my eyes. He tenderly kissed me, then held me close, his arms wrapped around me. I heard him sigh.

“That was… sensational. But not really what I had intended…” he said quietly. 

“Perhaps not, but it may be just what we both needed,” I replied.

“What do you mean?”

I took the torn shirt from his hand and walked with him over to the edge of the lake. I dipped it in the water, then used it to gently clean both of us. Once done, I tossed it on the ground for the moment and helped him fix his pants. “What I mean is the emotional connection. I know sex with you feels amazing…” I saw his cheeks turn red and I smiled. I still found it adorable that he would get all flustered when we spoke about sex. I walked back to where my clothes were and began getting dressed as I continued my thought to him. “Tonight, there was something more. A deeper bond between us. Something I have not felt before. Did you feel the boulder crack?”

He looked over at it. “Y-you did that?”

“ **We** did. The passion and emotional connection we shared tonight… It caused a build-up of power within me. I have never felt anything like it before. I didn’t want it to backlash, so I directed it into the rock. But even now, I feel like I could take on the archdemon single-handedly!” I walked over to the boulder and put my hand on it again. I wasn’t sure if it was the pressure of my hand on it, or if there had been another spike in power, but it suddenly split open.

“Maker’s Breath!” I whispered.

Alistair ran over to me and saw it. The interior of the boulder was filled with crystals, sparkling in the moonlight. Some of them were silvery-blue and some were golden. They almost looked the same way both of our eyes did with strong emotions.

“I have never seen anything like this before!” he breathed in awe. “D-did your magic… do this?”

“I don’t know. I have never heard of such a thing!” I walked around both halves of the rock, marveling at how the crystals sparkled. “Should I ask Wynne or Irving?”

He came up behind me and embraced me, his chin resting lightly on the top of my head. After a moment of quiet, he said, “I think we should keep this to ourselves. Maybe that is a bit selfish of me to think that. But seeing as how it happened – that we were having sex when your magic, um, powered up... Maybe that might get us the wrong kind of attention?”

“You may be right. Perhaps we should flip both halves over? So no one notices the crystals?”

He let me go and gripped the edge of one of the two halves. “Don’t know how heavy it might be…” But to his surprise, it was very light. “Amazing!” he exclaimed as he flipped it over. I did the same to the other half.

“Odd that they are so light. Just another mystery for us.” I shrugged. “Maybe one day we will find out.”

“Perhaps,” he mused. “For now, we should get back to camp and get some sleep. We still have quite a ways to travel.”

I nodded and picked up the remains of his shirt and his leather vest. He slipped on his vest and we headed back. Once there, I threw the ruined shirt on the embers of the fire to dispose of it. Then we got into our tent, closed the flaps, and went to sleep.

 

Morning. I rolled over on my bedroll to see that Alistair was already gone. _Wonder where he wandered off to?_ I yawned, stretched, and then quickly got dressed. I grabbed my pack and headed out. I saw Shale was standing by the cart.

“Morning Shale. How are you?”

“It is a good thing I do not require any sleep. It and it’s fellow Warden were making quite a bit of noise last night.”

“You heard us?” My face flushed bright red. I had thought that we had been far enough away from camp to avoid that type of incident. “Did anyone else, ah, hear?”

“I do not know. Does it want me to ask the rest of the group?”

“No! I mean… That is quite all right, Shale. No need to ruffle the other’s feathers.”

“It is lucky that it and the others do not have feathers. Else I might be crushing your frail little bodies. Bird humor is not appreciated.”

“Y-yes, of course. That was quite… foolish of me.” I muttered.

“Yes. Yes, it was.” Shale rumbled in agreement.

I sighed and opened my pack. Shale noticed the crystals immediately.

“Where did it find those crystals?” he asked.

“These?” I pulled a bright orange one out. “I totally forgot I had these. I found them in Shadmoor, in Wilhelm’s basement. I meant to study them.”

“Those are augmentation crystals. They will give me additional abilities.” He took the orange one from me and swallowed it. Surprised, I watched as little spikes of the crystal then began to grow from his wrists. “Does it have any others?”

“Um, let me see.” I found a larger green crystal. “What do they do for you?” I asked as I handed him the green one.

He put it into his mouth, swallowed again, and this time, green crystals grew from his shoulders. “I suppose the simplest way to explain this to it would be to say that they act like your armor and weapon. The orange one will give me the ability to add fire damage to my punches. This green one will provide me protection from nature damage. Does it understand?” I nodded. “Besides,” Shale gave a rocky smile. “I think they make me look quite beautiful. I think it should find some more as soon as possible. I want to glitter from ear to ear… so to speak.”

I hid my amused smile since I didn’t want Shale to think I was making fun of him. Just then I saw Alistair returning from his unknown errand.

I stood up and he gave me a deep kiss. “Good morning, love,” he said.

Before I could ask where he had been, Shale said, “It has become very close with the other Grey Warden.”

“Uh… yes, I suppose I have at that.” He gave me a grin.

Shale shrugged his now sparkling shoulders. “I find this difficult to comprehend. It is whiny and weak and constantly laughing.”

“Then I guess a romance between you and I is completely out of the question?” Alistair laughed.

“And the attempts at humor. I cannot understand how it is endured.”

“Well, maybe you should ask her why she likes me so much instead of bothering me with it?”

“It has a loud mouth. Why its head has not been crushed already is hard to imagine.” Shale grumbled.

_Hey! Standing right here, you know!_

“Or maybe you just happen to figure she likes me a lot more than she likes you?” Alistair said as he pulled me into his embrace. I giggled.

Shale frowned. “Don't be foolish.”

“Yes, I thought so. Just watch your step or I'm totally telling everyone!”

Shale walked away from the two of us. “I'm going to stand over here now.”

 

“So, where were you this morning?” I asked after Shale was far enough away from us.

“Just… taking care of a little something,” he said rather mysteriously. “Oh, and I slid the boulder halves into Lake Calenhad. It is now truly just between us. Our little secret…” he murmured before he kissed me again. Pulling away slowly, he then asked, “And how are you feeling this morning?”

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and focused. “I feel surprisingly good,” I said as I opened my eyes. “I still feel that surge of power from last night.” My cheeks pinkened as I remembered. “What about you?”

He did the same as I had done. “I feel… something. Not sure how I would describe it. Different, perhaps?” Then he looked deep into my eyes. “Something truly did happen between us, didn’t it? Aside from that phenomenal sex…” he whispered and blushed.

I gave a huge smile. “I… think so. But it will take time to figure out exactly what.”

He kissed me again. “We will figure it out together.”

“Yes. Together.”

 

If anyone else had heard Alistair and me last night – besides Shale – no one mentioned anything at breakfast. We got everything loaded back into the cart, mounted up, and headed out. The road following the lake now turned back to the north, which was good, since it kept the morning sun out of our eyes.

By evening we had reached our turning point. The Imperial Highway continued northeast around Lake Calenhad and would eventually lead back around to the docks and the Circle Tower. But in the morning we would be heading west and then northwest up into the Frostbacks.

We set up our camp by the shore of the lake. Since it would be our last night by the lake, we decided on fish for dinner one last time. Alistair grabbed his spear from the cart and waded into the shallows of the lake. Within fifteen minutes or so, he had caught four really good sized fish. Even Morrigan seemed a little impressed, though she was clearly not trying to show it.

After our dinner, we decided to tell stories for a little while. Alistair spoke of some of his time as a child growing up at Redcliffe Castle. While amusing, there was an underlying tone of sadness. Tales of a boy with a wild imagination, but growing up a very lonely life. I held his hand as he told his tales.

I went next, telling stories of some of the crazy pranks that we used to play on each other at the Tower. I even saw Sten chuckle at one moment, which surprised me. I knew he still didn't trust magic.

Leliana had tales of her life in Orlais. She told us about her love of shoes, and all of the crazy fashions of people in Val Royeaux. However, when she got to a tale of Lady Cecile wearing birds in her hair, I saw Shale grinding his rocky fists together. Leliana apparently noticed as well and cut the tale short. She then decided to sing for us. Zevran fetched her lute from the cart, which she had apparently bought while in Redcliffe. I hadn’t realized that she had been carrying it with us this whole time.

She played a lively dance tune, to which Zevran actually got Wynne to dance with him. The silliness of the moment even brought out a rare smile from Morrigan.

Next, she played a much slower tune. This time, Alistair got up and held out his hand to me. I got to my feet and he held me close. We swayed together in time to the music. It was very romantic. When it ended, he gave me a tender kiss, to which I head Zevran sigh with longing. I looked at the rest of my friends. Leliana and Wynne were both smiling. Morrigan seemed to be trying to hide one, which I thought was a bit strange since she didn’t seem to approve of Alistair and I being together. _Maybe she_ _i_ _s starting to soften up about it?_

Sten and Shale both didn’t seem to have any reactions to give, but that was hardly unexpected. Winston however, came up to the both of us and barked his happiness. He seemed to be really glad that we were together. The front of his body was hunched down low on the ground and his backside was wiggling in a very excited manner. Alistair grinned and knelt down to give him a good scratching.

Evening fun finally finished, everyone retired to their tents for the night. Once in ours (and my privacy barrier in place), Alistair showed me again and again just how much I meant to him.

 

As we left Lake Calenhad behind us, the road grew rougher. Our horses seemed to have little problem navigating it though. We still had rather large trees on either side of us, which was quite nice. But as I looked up to the mountains looming in front of us, I could see where the trees would eventually end, leaving us with an unforgiving, barren, and rocky landscape. And somewhere up in those tall peaks we would find the entrance to the dwarven kingdom of Orzammar.

The sun was already behind the mountains when we spotted a faint dirt path to our left.

“Think this might be the path leading to Bodahn’s cousin’s farm?” I asked.

“Not sure,” Alistair replied, but we’ve got trouble. You feel it?”

I did. I also saw it in Alistair’s eyes. There were darkspawn somewhere nearby. Just then we heard a loud shout. It seemed to be coming from the direction the dirt path lead. Alistair called for everyone’s attention and then turned his horse down the dirt road.

About a half-kilometer down the road, we saw a field. I figured this might be a good place to leave the horses until we found and killed the darkspawn. We dismounted and headed back to the road. Weapons all at the ready, I summoned my glowing orb and tossed it high above us to give us light. We continued on down the path and now the shouts we had heard became words.

“Back! Back ye disgustin’ beasts! Get offen me farm!”

My glowing orb revealed a dwarven woman brandishing a torch in one hand, and a pitchfork in the other. She was surrounded by genlocks.

Wynne cast a shield over the woman, and I aimed my staff.

“A 'losgadh gaothan!” <Burning winds!> I shouted.

A tornado of fire came down and incinerated the genlocks. I then immediately extinguished the flames. Wynne’s shield dropped. The dwarf woman quickly turned towards us, suspicion on her face.

“Who be you? If’n you plan t’give me troubles as well…”

“Well, that’s gratitude for you,” I head Morrigan mutter.

I stepped forward. “We are Grey Wardens,” I said pointing to myself and Alistair. “We were on our way to Orzammar and sensed the darkspawn.”

“Grey Wardens? Then I s’pose I should thank ye for t’help.” She jabbed her pitchfork into the ground. “Nasty little blighters started attackin’ me farm two nights ago. But only jus’ a few! I was able t’deal with ‘em. T’night there was a bloody horde of ‘em!” She sighed. “I think they be comin’ from a hole leadin’ to t’Deep Roads nearby…”

“Are you Brunnhylda?” I asked.

“Aye. That’s me. How d’you know me name?”

“I have a letter from your cousin Bodahn.”

“Bodahn? You don’ say? Havn’ seen him in years! How’s he doin’?”

“Well enough last I saw. He’s settled down in Redcliffe. Has a shop there now.”

“Still has tha’ lil’ lyrium addled fella with ‘im? What was his name?”

“Sandal, and yes.”

“Ah, well good for ‘im then.” She nodded. “Bein’ so late, I’m guessin’ ye gonna need a place t’stay for t’night?”

“Actually, yes. Bodahn’s letter was going to ask you for your assistance. You see, we need a place to keep our horses when we head out to Orzammar tomorrow.”

“Horses? Where’d ye leave ‘em?” she asked.

“We didn’t want them to get spooked from any potential fighting. We left them in a field not too far away.”

“Go on and fetch ‘em then. Me barn isn’ far off.”

I thanked her and we all walked back up the road, my orb providing us the light to find our way back.

In our haste to help Brunnhylda, we had not tied up the horses, and they had wandered a bit. But we were able to find them all and rode them back to where she was waiting for us.

“This way!” she called out, leading us to her barn.

After getting the horses (and the mule) all secured for the night, Brunnhylda turned back to us. “So where’s t’letter from Bodahn?”

I jumped up into the cart and grabbed the letter for her.

She took it from me, then asked, “T’light thing ‘bove us? That your doin’ mage?”

“Yes.”

“Can ye bring it closer? So I can read t’letter?”

“Sure,” I replied. I then did as she asked and brought the light down just a bit. She opened the wax seal and read the letter. She chuckled as she finished it.

“Ah… same ol’ Bodahn! ‘S good to hear from ‘im.” She smiled at us. “So, I’m guessin’ ye be Alistair,” she said pointing to him. “And ye be Kylara?” I nodded. “Lemme see if’n I can get t’rest of ye right…” She pointed to each person and surprisingly matched everyone’s names correctly.

When I told her she had been correct, she grinned and said, “Me cousin describes ye all pretty well.” She folded the letter and stuffed it into her pocket. “So… ye all welcome t’stay, but I don’ have room in me house - especially for a fella as tall as ye, Sten.”

He grunted, but still gave a brief smile.

“Jus’ go ‘head and set up your camp here by t’barn. I can bring ye all somethin’ to eat.”

“Thank you, Brunnhylda.”

“’Fore I leave though, Think ye Wardens can do me a favor in t’mornin’?”

“Sure,” Alistair said. “For you to offer us hospitality, it would be the least we could do for you in return.”

“As I said earlier, those darkspawn blighters began attackin’ me ‘bout two nights ago. If’n ye can find out where they be comin’ from, and seal it off, I’d be grateful.”

“We can do that, yes.”

“Well then! That settles that! Lemme go and fetch ye all some food for t’night.”

 

We had set up our tents in a circle around our campfire by the time she returned carrying a large stewpot.

“Ye all got some bowls?” she asked as she set the heavy pot down over our fire.

“Yes.” I ran back to the cart and brought out our bowls and utensils. After dropping those off, I ran back again and fetched the last of the cheese wheel that Alistair had bought in Rainesfere. When Brunnhylda saw it, she went back to her home and brought us out some bread to go with it.

We ate the bread and cheese and chatted while we were waiting for the stew to cook. Then Brunnhylda ran back to her home one last time, this time bringing out two large jugs. She handed one to Alistair and the other to Wynne. “Me homebrew,” she explained.

I passed out everyone’s cups. Alistair and Wynne then distributed the beer, while Brunnhylda checked the pot. Seeming pleased, she asked me for the bowls and began dishing out the stew. She even ladled out a bowl for Winston. He gave her a happy bark as she put it on the ground for him.

After everyone had had their fill of Brunnhylda’s delicious stew and beer, we bid her a good night.

“See ye in t’mornin’,” she simply said.

 

As we promised, Alistair and I headed out in the morning into a field behind Brunnhylda’s house. She had told us that she suspected that the darkspawn were coming from here. As it was, it didn’t take us long to find a fairly large hole leading deep underground. The desiccated crops around the hole pretty much gave it away.

“So,” Alistair said as we gazed at the hole. “How are we going to deal with this?”

“I think I can seal it up with a spell. It may not permanently stop them - they may eventually dig through again. But it should stop them for a good long while.”

“Do you need me to do anything?” he asked.

Now I smiled at him. “Yes. There is something you can do for me.”

Looking at the expression on my face, he grinned. “Yeeeesss?”

“Kiss me.”

He laughed lightly. “Not sure how this will help you, but your wish is my command.” He embraced me tightly and brought his lips down to mine.

I wasn’t sure why, but something inside me was telling me this was important. As the kiss continued, I felt a sudden rush of power deep within me.

Apparently, Alistair could feel something too. He broke the kiss off. “Wow! What is this?” he whispered. “I feel… absolutely amazing!”

I held his hand in mine, raised my staff, and shouted out, “Tha mi a 'gairm air cumhachd na talmhainn dùnadh an t-slighe-steach seo!” <I call on the earth's power to close this entrance!>

The earth began to rumble beneath our feet, but we held our ground. Within moments, the hole was completely sealed. New grass and flowers then bloomed over the dirt, covering up any evidence that the darkspawn had ever been here.

Alistair stared at me in wonder. “Maker! How did you… That was incredible!”

“You helped me, you know,” I said. “Your energy. The passion we share. I think this is all tying back to our night by the lake, and the crystal rock.” My expression saddened. “I wish we had had more time to study it before we left.” I sighed. “Maybe someday we can find our way back there and try to retrieve it from the lake?”

Alistair had a pensive look on his face. “Maybe…” he said slowly. He hugged me close to him. “Come, my love. Let’s go tell Brunnhylda that her darkspawn problem has been handled. And we should probably get going on the road soon as well. Now that we won’t have the horses, it may take us the full day to walk to Orzammar.”

“Yes. You’re right. Let’s get going.”

 

Brunnhylda was surprised when we explained what we had found. I told her that I had taken care of it.

“Ye sure t’nasty lil’ blighters are gone now?”

“Yes. They should not trouble you now.”

“Then thank ye kindly for t’help!” I’ll take good care of t’horses whilst ye be in Orzammar. No matter how long it’ll take ye.”

We thanked her, then packed up all the items we would need and could carry on our backs.

With a final wave to Brunnhylda, we headed out.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 12,000+ Words! Longest chapter I've written to date! Enjoy!!


	21. Orzammar (part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a long, cold hike up the mountain, Kylara, Alistair, and the rest finally find themselves at the massive underground home of the dwarven people. Will they be able to convince the dwarves to join the Grey Warden cause?

We spent the day hiking higher and higher into the Frostbacks. Wynne looked like she was having a bit of trouble with the exertion, so Alistair and I hung back to keep an eye on her. She didn’t say anything, but it was clear she appreciated it.

I was also a bit sad that we had left Winston at Brunnhylda’s farm. I missed his somewhat silly companionship. However, Brunnhylda had pointed out that dwarves didn’t have any dogs and that he might not be welcomed into the city. Winston had whined at being told to stay behind, but I told him we’d be back as soon as we could. As the sun disappeared behind the mountains, throwing us into premature night, we reached the tree line. The air was cold and dry. Our breaths puffed out with each exhalation. _It’s a good thing we are still a ways off from full winter up here,_ I thought. _Snow and ice would make this path very treacherous_.

It was also getting really cold, and my robe had short sleeves. I rubbed my arms trying to keep them warm. I could see others, especially Morrigan, also trying their best to stay warm. _Why had we not thought to bring warmer gear with us?_

Just when I thought we end up having to set up a frigid camp for the night, I saw the bright orange glow of fires burning up ahead.

“Do you think…” I puffed out, “that we are finally there?”

“Maker, I hope so!” Alistair said. “It’s getting bloody cold out!”

“All of this… to visit a bunch of short people… who live in a cave…” I heard Morrigan grumble. She had a small flame charm burning in one hand, trying to keep herself from freezing.

We crossed over a beautifully carved stone bridge which crossed a narrow gully and before us were the gates of Orzammar! My jaw dropped in awe. Massive iron doors were attached to a huge opening into the mountain itself. The rocks around the doors also had intricate carvings decorating the area. Torches lined the area and there were a few campfires burning, warming the area just a bit. Several tents were set up in a clearing before the doors. There were dwarven and human merchants milling about, some getting ready to retire for the evening. We saw a ramp leading up to the doors. Not wanting to stay outside, since our tents had been left on the cart at Brunnhylda’s farm, we headed up the ramp and immediately heard someone arguing with one of the dwarven guards.

“Veata! **10** This land is held in trust for the sovereign Dwarven Kings. I have already told you I cannot allow entry at this time!” I heard the guard say.

“You are insulting all of Ferelden with your actions! I demand an audience with your King at once! In the name of King Loghain…”

“Excuse me?” I blurted out as I stormed up the ramp. “ **King** Loghain?” My hands on my hips (and my eyes glowing angrily, I was sure) I approached the three men who had been arguing with the guard. “That man is NOT and will NEVER be King!”

“Whoa there, love,” Alistair murmured to me as he gently pulled me back against him. “Let’s take it easy until we know what we are dealing with…”

“Who the void are you?” one of the men behind their leader said loudly. “How dare you insult…”

The leader of the group held his hand up for silence and turned back to the dwarven guard. “Ahem, and I am telling you again that King Loghain demands the allegiance of the deshyr in your Assembly. **I** am his appointed messenger!”

The guard laughed. “I don’t care if you are the King’s wiper! Orzammar will have none but its own until **our** throne is settled!”

Calmed by Alistair’s presence, I moved past the three men representing Loghain and politely addressed the guard with a smile. “Look, I am sorry for this, but we have important business in Orzammar. May we please pass?”

“Your business is not more important than mine!” the leader of the men whined. “I’ve been here over a week now!”

“And I keep telling you every day, you piece of gangue! You are **not** getting in!” the guard shouted.

“Please. We must speak to…”

The dwarven guard addressed me a bit more politely. “I’m sorry, but your business will have to wait. Orzammar must limit outside influence until the throne is settled. No one gets in.”

“But we must get in. It is very important!” I pleaded softly, trying to not also show how cold I was.

“If **I** can’t get in, then no one should,” Loghain’s lead man stated smugly, his arms crossing defiantly over his chest.

The dwarf sighed. “Look… Orzammar has no King right now. Endrin Aeducan returned to the stone not three weeks ago. The Assembly has gone through a dozen votes without agreeing on a successor. If it is not settled soon, we risk civil war.”

“Didn’t the King have three sons?” Alistair asked quietly. “Wouldn’t one of them inherit?”

“The King may choose his own successor. Ours does not necessarily go by bloodline – though the Aeducans have ruled for a good many generations already.”

“We are Grey Wardens,” I finally said, knowing there would be a backlash from Loghain’s lackey as soon as he heard it… “This treaty obliges Orzammar to aid us.” I handed the document over to the guard, just as Loghain’s man began to shout.

“The Wardens killed King Cailan and nearly doomed Ferelden! They’re sworn enemies of King Loghain!”

I seethed in anger again at that bastard being called King – but to my gleeful delight, the guard said, “This is the Royal Seal. That means that only the Assembly can address it. Grey Wardens, you may pass.”

“WHAT?!” Loghain’s man sputtered. “You’re letting in th-that **traitor**?! In the name of King Loghain, I **demand** that you execute this… stain on the honor of Ferelden!”

The dwarf guard raised an eyebrow at Loghain’s man. “Did I hear this right? Are you making demands of me? Oh, you have my attention now… and you are not going to be happy with the results.” He turned behind him and called to the other guards. “Men! Get these fool humans out of my sight!”

The other dwarven guards began forcefully removing Loghain’s men off of the ramp. I really wanted to gloat, but held my tongue, lest I annoyed the guard as well. That, and I really wanted to get inside and out of the freezing night air!

When all of the guards finally returned, the head guard came up and led us to the mighty iron doors of Orzammar. “All I ask Wardens,” he said, “is that you keep things civil while in our city.”

The massive doors opened.

 

First thing I noticed once the doors had closed behind us, was we had gone from freezing outside, to absolutely roasting once inside. As my vision adjusted to the dim interior, I could see why. There were huge pools of lavabelow us! _Maker’s Breath! We_ _a_ _re inside… a volcano?!_

As if to sum up that very thought, I heard Shale mutter, “Lava bad. Don’t go near the lava…”

“But you’re an indestructible golem! Why should you be afraid of lava?” Alistair asked.

“It does realize that lava is **melted rock**? Even I could not withstand that much heat!”

Alistair’s face turned red with embarrassment. Or was it the heat? I couldn’t be sure.

“What? It doesn’t have a witty retort? I have actually stunned it into silence?” Shale grinned. “I will remember this moment.”

Ahead of us, we saw another guardsman. “Atrast vala, Wardens. Your arrival is a mixed blessing.”

I wasn’t really sure what to make of that. Was it good that we were here at a time like this, or bad? Without a King, Alistair and I would probably have our work cut out for us to get the treaty honored.

Past the lone guard, there was a road lined with large statues of (I had to guess) famous dwarves in front of us. In between each one of the statues were fountains of lava providing illumination (and copious amounts of heat as well) _How do the dwarven people stand all this heat,_ I thought, as I tried fanning myself… to no avail. _I guess if you live with it long enough…_

Up ahead I head a mother dwarf talking to her daughter. “Now that is a thing of beauty,” she said, pointing to one of the statues. “If you work hard like Branka, all Orzammar will know your name!”

“But mother… I don’t want to be like her! She – ”

The mother dwarf was livid at her daughter’s reply. “Don’t say that! Not to me, not to anyone! Now get back to the forge! I want to see more detail!”

“Yes, mother,” the daughter mumbled. I watched the two of them walk away.

After they left, I went up to the statue and took a look. She was rather unremarkable looking but obviously had done something to make the mother dwarf revere her so.

“Paragon Branka,” I read from a plaque below the statue. A few meters away was a ‘Paragon Ortan’ and next to it was a ‘Paragon Bemot.’ “What is a ‘Paragon’?” I asked.

“Paragons? If I remember right, they are the best of their ancestors or something like that,” Alistair replied.

We made our way past each of these ‘Paragon’ statues and to another massive set of doors.

“For such a short people they do rather like their doors, buildings, and decorations rather… tall.” I heard Morrigan quip.

We walked down a short set of stairs lined with torches and what lay before us stunned me into silence. The so-called ‘cave’ that the dwarves called home was so massive that you couldn’t even see the ceiling above. There were huge stone carvings everywhere and towering pillars reaching up into the darkness above. Below us were more rivers and pools of lava. Lava was also being used as a light source, as I saw more "fountains" spewing the viscous magma.

“I wonder why they decided to build a city around so much lava. It seems to me like an accident waiting to happen,” Wynne commented, echoing my own thoughts.

Alistair was staring around in amazement. “They were right! The book descriptions really don’t do it justice! This is… incredible!”

“If there is anything complimentary to be said about these people, 'tis that they possess a remarkable facility for carving stone,” Morrigan said quietly. “But I do wonder… Where did they put all the rock they dug out?”

Up ahead of us, we suddenly heard an argument. We all stopped – close enough to hear what was going on – but not too close as to draw attention to our large party.

An older dwarf with his grey hair tied back in a braid was saying, “It is the Assembly who makes a King… and a King who nominates his successor. None of it is carried in the blood.”

“Or, as now, when someone tries using the Assembly to pull a coup,” a dwarf with dark blond hair was retorting. “Who’s to say what my father said in his final hours when **you** were the only one by his side?”

“I should have you thrown in prison!” the older dwarf said angrily.

“You’ve bitten off more than you can chew, old man!” the blond dwarf shouted back.

A brown-haired dwarf now spoke up. “Handlers! Separate these two in the Diamond Quarter! I will not see Bhelen start a riot!”

A paler blond-haired dwarf grabbed his war axe. “You will not speak that way about the man who should be King!” He swung his axe around, knocking the brown-haired dwarf’s shield away. The brown haired dwarf fell to the ground and the pale-blond swung his axe down. In a gory splash of blood, the brown-haired dwarf was killed.

“Oh, my!” I heard Wynne cry out softly.

The two groups of dwarves ran in separate directions after the slaughter, followed by several guards. Another guard dragged the dead body away.

We all slowly walked forward. I heard the guard captain mutter when he saw us, “Wonderful! Fighting in the Commons… and in front of outsiders, no less. Stone-blind fools!” He then held up his hand and addressed us. “Veata, Wardens. I am bid to let you walk the Commons, but keep your place! There will be order here!”

“He says that to us, when they make such an obviously wonderful first impression to outsiders,” Morrigan muttered so quietly that only I heard her. I had to agree.

“How can your city function like this?” I asked the guard captain.

His eyes narrowed at me. “See, that is why I didn’t want any surfacers down here now – seeing us at our worst. You’ll think that is all we are.” He pursed his lips, then said, “The market is thin but busy. Our tavern never closes and bad blood is usually kept to the Proving.” He then muttered, “I should toss both Bhelen and Harrowmont in there… That’d sort all of this out in a hurry.”

“The Proving?”

The captain sighed. “Personal battles for honor and ancestor. I wouldn’t expect a surfacer to understand.” He shook his head. “If you must be our Warden, you should at least **know** us. Go see the Shaper of Memories in the Shaperate. The true bright spot in the Diamond Quarter.”

“So Bhelen and Harrowmont are the ones vying for the throne? Perhaps we need to talk with one of them about the treaty.”

The guard captain frowned. “I have just had my men sequester the two of them in the Diamond Quarter. If you want to speak with either of them, Bhelen can be contacted through his second, Vartag Gavorn. You can find him usually in the Assembly Hall. Harrowmont’s man is Dulin Forender, and he can usually be found at Harromont’s estate. Good luck.” As we turned to leave, I then heard the captain mutter, “You’ll need it.”

 

“So, do we know anything else about either one of these men?” I asked, not really sure if any of my friends would be able to answer.

“I think…” Alistair began, “I believe that Bhelen is – or was – King Aeducan’s son. I am not sure who Harrowmont is.”

“So one would think that this Bhelen follow should take the throne, yes?” Zevran remarked.

“But didn’t the guard out front say that the King can also choose a successor?” Wynne commented. “What if the King didn’t want his son on the throne? Perhaps we need to speak to this Harrowmont and find out more?”

“And what of the King’s other two sons? Where do they fit into this picture? Why hasn’t anyone mentioned them?” I murmured before frowning. “I am really starting to hate politics…”

“You and me both, love,” Alistair grinned. I snorted back a laugh.

“Perhaps it can talk to some of the locals?” Shale spoke up. “Or listen in to what other dwarves say? They may provide insight.”

“Shale has a point,” Sten agreed. “I don’t know whom you should pick, but we need to pick one and get back to fighting the darkspawn.”

“Yes,” I said. “Standing here gets us no closer to getting the treaty honored. Why don’t we split up for a while? Find out what we can and reconvene somewhere. Didn’t the guard captain mention a tavern? We can meet back there.”

“Oh, what a great idea! A dwarven tavern!” Wynne said excitedly. “I’ve always wanted to try some of their ale. I hear it’s quite potent.”

“I do not even want to think from what manner of substance a cave-dwelling people would create their spirits from,” Morrigan pronounced.

“Alistair, Shale, and Wynne. Why don’t you come with me? We will go this way, I said, pointing to the right.

“Then I guess the rest of us will head to the left side of Commons,” Leliana smiled. “We’ll have a lot of fun!”

“Wonderful…” I heard Morrigan grouse.

“Let’s meet up at the tavern in about… an hour?” I said.

“And how exactly do we tell time down here?” Morrigan smirked. “’Tis no sun and no clocks that I can see.”

She did have a point. “Just use your best guess,” I sighed.

We split up and each went our separate ways.

 

As our group headed towards the right side of the Dwarven Commons, I overheard Shale and Wynne speaking.

“The elder mage watches me. I am reminded of a certain former master whose head I crushed… or so I was told.”

“I'm sorry, Shale. I am simply curious about you, that's all,” Wynne replied.

“As my former master would say before poking and prodding at me,” Shale grumbled.

“Oh, I would do no such thing. I just find the idea of you so fascinating. On the one hand, it seems like it would be a sad and lonely an existence. But on the other hand, you are so very powerful. No golem I know of has ever had free will as you do. May I ask what you intend to do with it?”

“Other than exterminating the vermin of the sky?”

“Er, yes. Other than that.”

“I do not know. Crushing heads is fun, I suppose,” Shale cocked his rocky head towards her.

“I do hope you mean darkspawn heads and not ours, right?”

“Perhaps.”

Wynne sighed. Then she asked, “Shale, why are you referring to me as the ‘elder mage’?”

“Because it is a mage too,” he said, pointing at me, “and because you are old and also a mage _._ ”

“She has a name, as do I. We all have names. I heard you call Morrigan ‘swamp witch’ the other day. But I think we would all prefer being referred to by our actual names.” Wynne said gently.

“I have no doubt that is so.”

“Then you simply wish to be perverse? Surely you are better than that,” she scolded.

Shale shrugged his crystallized shoulders. “I have found that I am allowed precious few amusements. Since so many preferred to call me ‘golem’, I decided to enjoy referring to you in a similar fashion.”

“But **we** aren’t calling you ‘golem’.”

“You just did.”

Wynne blew out a frustrated breath. “Oh, very well. But could you at least use a different adjective? I do not wish my age to be my defining characteristic.”

Shale grinned. “As the fussy mage desires.”

“I give up,” she groaned.

Alistair and I chuckled lightly. I think we had just gotten so used to Shale calling us ‘it’, that it really didn’t bother us anymore.

He then leaned in close to me and whispered, “I am a bit surprised that no one here has come up and asked us about Shale. Since there are clearly no other golems walking around the city, I’d think they’d at least be curious that we have one with us.”

“I wondered that too, but I have no doubt the entire dwarven population here are watching him carefully. They are probably watching all of us as a matter of fact.”

“You are most likely correct, love.”

“By the way,” I murmured, “I thought that was my pet name for you. So if that is what you are going to call me now, what should I call you?

“Um… How about, ‘Cheese Man’?” **11**

“Oh, Maker! No!” My eyes got huge as I whispered back, “I can’t scream out that in the middle our… um… Well, you know! I think I’d start laughing too hard!”

He laughed too. “Good point.”

“Hmm. How about, Alibear? I called you that the night you were drunk. It was a completely random thing, but I kind of like it.”

“Alibear? I guess that is actually kind of cute. But only if it’s coming from you,” he said softly and gave me a smile.

We slowly continued walking the Dwarven Commons, noting the shops, and talking to a few citizens here and there. In one shop, we spoke to a merchant. I asked his opinion on the two men who wanted to be King.

He smiled at us, but said, “I tend to stay out of politics. It’s not good for a smith to get the attention of those who grant vendors’ licenses. Lord Harrowmont’s a fair man. My father did business with him and he always paid on time. But, the Aeducans have served us well. If it is the ancestors’ wisdom to keep them on the throne, I cannot object.”

That didn’t help the issue we had.

We took our time, exploring everything around us. I then saw a rather odd sight. There was a dwarf, dressed in full Chantry robes. He greeted us cheerfully.

“Maker’s Blessing on you, sister.”

Though I was not much of a Chantry goer (I had occasionally gone to services while in the Tower), to be polite I still recited the proper response, “May His divine spirit always light your way.”

He smiled widely at me. “Ah! It’s a great pleasure to meet a fellow believer. I am Brother Burkel of the Redcliffe Chantry.”

“I don’t recall seeing you when we were there,” I commented.

“Oh, I have been back here in my ancestors’ land for some time now. I have been trying to spread the Chant of Light here. I have been petitioning to open a Chantry here in Orzammar.

“I thought that all dwarves worshiped their ancestors,” Alistair said.

Brother Burkel frowned. “There has been… resistance.”

“But if that is their religion, why would you want to change it?” Wynne nudged Alistair hard in his ribs. “Ow!” He gave her a look and sighed. “Look, I am not against the Chantry, you should know that, Wynne. I was just… curious. That’s all.”

“I am not trying to force them into what I believe,” Brother Burkel said. “I am merely trying to offer them a choice. How can someone choose this path if they are not even aware it exists?”

“What would you need, if this is truly what you want to do?” I asked.

“The Shaperate controls changes in Orzammar’s structure and society. I would need their permission to open up a prayer meeting.”

“I see. Well, I suppose we could mention it to them. We will have to go and see them at some point.”

“Thank you, young lady. I would appreciate that.” Brother Burkel said.

 

Just before we decided to head back to the tavern to meet up with everyone else, I saw a rather well-dressed and pretty dwarf woman standing off by herself. She was looking at the area where the fight and murder had taken place. I saw her shake her head sadly. I looked back towards my companions. Alistair had disappeared somewhere. I didn’t know where he had gone, but I had no doubt he’d be back soon. Wynne was busy looking at some carving on the wall and Shale was just standing off by himself. I decided to approach the woman.

“I take it you saw what happened there earlier,” she said to me when I came up to her.

“Yes. We saw it.”

“I cannot believe what this city has come to. This would never have happened when Endrin was alive.” She gave a faint smile at me and shook my hand. “I’m Nerav. Nerav Helmi.”

“I am Kylara.” I looked around and asked quietly, “Do you know both of the men? Bhelen… He’s the King’s son, right?”

“Aye.” She sighed. “What a terrible burden for a father to have only Bhelen left of his three sons.”

“What happened to the other two? That is if you don’t mind me asking…”

“No, I do not mind. Trian was the eldest of the three. He was murdered. The blame was pinned on the second son, Sebestyan.” She swiped a tear from her eye. “I-I was a potential match to marry Sebestyan. He was a kind soul. Though he and Trian had their differences and fought often, Sebestyan would never have murdered his older brother!”

“What happened to Sebestyan?”

“H-he was exiled to the Deep Roads about a month ago. No one has seen him since then.”

“I am sorry,” I replied softly.

She wiped away another tear. “Thank you.”

“So how does Bhelen fit into this?”

“He was the one who actually murdered Trian. He framed it so that Sebestyan would look like the murderer though.”

“You know this for a fact?”

She frowned slightly, hesitating before answering. “No… but it still all points to him as the guilty party. He was the youngest. He had no chance at getting anywhere near the throne. Even Endrin had his doubts about his third son. Though he had to banish Sebestyan, it was clear that he did not want Bhelen to have the throne. He saw that Bhelen cared for nothing but power. Endrin ordered his own son away from his deathbed and named Harrowmont as his successor!”

“Is Harrowmont qualified to rule?”

“He is a good man and a skilled general. King Endrin trusted him with his life and I will do no less.”

“I see.” I noticed that Wynne and Alistair were now coming towards me. “Thank you for taking the time to talk with me.”

She nodded. “You come at a sad time, Kylara. I am going home to wait it out. I would suggest you do the same.”

 

As we approached the tavern, I saw Leliana, Zevran, Sten, and Morrigan approaching from the other direction.

“See, Morrigan?” Leliana grinned. “I told you. I have a great sense of time.”

“Or ‘twas just a remarkable coincidence and nothing more.”

“Come on. Let’s go inside and discuss what we all found,” I said.

“I will stay out here,” Shale said. “It is doubtful that there is room in there for me… and I do not drink.”

I nodded at him and we then headed inside. The smell in the place – called Tapsters – left much to be desired.

Morrigan grimaced “Ugh. Just… do not buy anything. Or touch anything. Or… sit anywhere.”

I found a table large enough for our entire party, and fortunately, it was relatively clean, though Morrigan still hesitated before carefully sitting. A barmaid came up and asked us what we wanted.

I was stunned when Wynne decided to order for all of us. “Seven mugs of your finest dwarven ale please!”

“I don’t think that dwarven ale isn't truly ale at all,” Zevran muttered looking at what all of the other patrons of Tapsters were drinking. The barmaid came back and put a mug in front of him. “Oh, and it's black. Marvelous…”

“Ah, live a little, Zev!” Wynne smiled and drank deeply from her own mug. “Well now, that is an… interesting flavor.” I saw her stifle a belch. “Come on now, everyone! Have a drink!”

“When did you become such a party-animal, Wynne?” Alistair chuckled.

“Since today, young man!” Wynne giggled. It was very clear now that even with just the small amount she had consumed, this ‘ale’ was apparently very, very strong.

I took a hesitant sip. It was, in my opinion, beyond foul. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to drink any more of it. Yet, I could see there were patrons and some of the staff looking at us. I did not want them to consider us rude, so I held my breath and took another, slightly larger, sip.

Sten drank down his own pint in one large swallow. I looked at him curiously. Impassively, he stared right back and said, “At least this has flavor… compared to what you Fereldens call beer.”

“Whatever you say, Sten,” Alistair said and slid his pint over to him. “Enjoy.”

“So… Have we learned anything about the two men fighting over the dwarven throne? Leliana?”

“I heard from one dwarf that the Legion of the Dead warriors secretly wear Prince Bhelen’s colors.”

“Who… or what is the Legion of the Dead?” I asked.

“I asked that too… Apparently, they are Orzammar’s deadliest warriors. They are like Grey Wardens in the sense that they go into the Deep Roads and battle darkspawn until they die,” she said.

“I see. Zevran? Did you get anything?”

“Ah, let me think. I believe one told me that this Bhelen fellow was considering a dissolution of the ancient clans. For some reason, this terrified the fellow.”

“Hmm. Sten? Did you talk to anyone?”

He smirked. “They seemed afraid and none would speak with me directly, but I overheard some dwarves talking near one shop. They said something about Bhelen being the voice of change and prosperity, and that Harrowmont was the voice of stagnation and ruin.”

“Morrigan?”

She sighed. “I really do not see the point in this, but one seemed to fear for her son when she told me that she heard that Bhelen was considering a widespread military draft?”

“Alistair?”

“Yes, love?”

“Did you talk to anyone?”

“Oh!” He blushed a bit in embarrassment. “Uh… yes. One dwarf woman I spoke to said that Bhelen was planning on marrying a casteless woman. She said it proves his dedication to change. Apparently, that is something that has never been done before, because the caste system has been in place for thousands of years… and the casteless are supposedly the lowest of the low, in dwarven society.”

“Wynne?” I looked over at her. “What about you?”

She yawned. “I heard the opposite of what Sten just said. The dwarf I spoke to said that Lord Harrowmont is the voice of stability and Lord Bhelen is the voice of anarchy.”

“Wonderful! This still doesn’t get us any closer to a resolution!” I fumed.

“What about you,” Alistair asked me. “I saw you talking to that noble-looking dwarf woman. What did she say?”

I explained what I’d heard from Nerav Helmi.

“So she thinks that Bhelen murdered his eldest brother and framed the middle one for it?” Alistair exclaimed in shock. “If that is actually true…”

“ **If** it were true,” Leliana said thoughtfully, “then it would put Harrowmont at four and Bhelen at three… But she said it was just her speculation. So I guess we are still at an impasse.”

“Damn it all! Between what is going on in Denerim and here, I am sick already with this game of thrones!” **12**

Alistair put his arm around me and gave a brief hug. “Look, it is getting late. We need to find somewhere to sleep for the night. Tomorrow we can talk with each man’s ‘second’ to get more information. Does this tavern have rooms?”

“The beds are most likely sized for the people who live here,” I said wryly. “Even if they somehow did have beds in our size… not really sure I’d want to stay here anyways.” I surreptitiously pointed at two dwarves who were both vomiting in the corner.

Alistair grimaced.

“I may have a solution,” Leliana quietly spoke. “I spoke to a guard and mentioned our… situation. He said there is a small corner in the Diamond Quarter where we can set up our bedrolls for a few hours. At least it will give us a brief respite.” She sighed. “It is only temporary though, which means we may have to leave the city and get our tents to camp outside… Unless something else presents itself to us.”

“I suppose it will have to do for now,” I muttered as I noticed Wynne had fallen asleep, even though she had only consumed about a third of her mug. _Strong indeed…_

 

I don’t know how long I had slept. Without the sun, we had no way of even knowing if it was night or day. What little sleep I felt had gotten had been restless due to the heat. I was also feeling a bit nauseous and I suspected it was from the few sips of ‘ale’ I had consumed. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw Leliana helping Wynne to someplace discrete as she held her hand to her mouth. I glanced over at Sten, who had drunk **three** pints, but he slept on. _He must have a cast-iron stomach,_ I thought sourly.

I reached over and fumbled in my pack for my water-skin.

“Mmm, hey.” Alistair opened a sleepy eye and looked at me. “You all right?”

“No. not really,” I mumbled. I drank some water. “Definitely not drinking that awful shit again, I don’t care if it offends any of the dwarves.”

Alistair rolled over onto his side and began rubbing my back. “Does this help?”

I sighed. “Yes, thank you.”

“We should probably try and sleep a little more; before the guards decide to chase us away from here.”

I nodded and was about to lay back down when we heard a loud shout from a very irate sounding dwarf around the corner.

“It’ll be two years tomorrow! By all the holy sodding ancestors, how can you people just ignore that?!”

Alistair and I sat back up to listen.

I heard a second dwarf sigh and say in a more patient tone, “Branka didn’t go alone, Oghren. She took her whole house with her… everyone but you. So just get back on over to Tapsters and drown yourself already. You know as well as I do that’s how this always ends.”

Oghren growled. “You think I’m afraid of some cub warrior who’s barely off the teat? I’ll – ”

Dwarf number two snorted. “You lift a weapon or attack a single citizen in Orzammar and you’re stripped of your caste and exiled. Even you can’t have forgotten that. Now get out of the Diamond Quarter, or I’ll call for the guards.”

Whoever this Oghren was, we heard him mutter curses at the second dwarf. Then we saw him as he rounded the corner. He was dressed in heavy plate armor and had a shock of bright red-orange hair. His flame-colored mustache and beard was done up in a traditional braided style. He glared at us as he marched over to the exit leading back to the Commons.

“What the sodding hells are you staring at?” he sneered at us, then he left.

“Well, so much for getting any decent sleep,” I heard Zevran grumble.

The second dwarf rounded the corner. “My apologies, Wardens,” he said to us. Every week this happens. Oghren’s barely even Warrior Caste anymore and he just keeps clomping in here like he’s entitled!”

“Who is Oghren?” I asked.

“He’s a drunken wretch. He keeps coming up here, trying to hound people into leading some suicidal rescue mission after Branka. He gets quite violent about it sometimes, but his bark is worse than his bite nowadays. Sorry if he woke you all up.”

“Branka… She is one of your Paragons, right?”

“Yes, She was Smith Caste and apparently invented some special type of coal that really helped the smiths increase their output. The Shaper of Memories could tell you more if you are interested.”

“Why did Branka go into the Deep Roads?”

The dwarf smirked. “She went chasing after some old lost artifact. She was quite secretive, downright rude at times. Kept telling us that she never asked to found a house and didn’t care about politics. Told us we were all too self-absorbed to defeat the darkspawn.”

“Why does this Oghren care so much about Branka?” Alistair asked.

The dwarf laughed. “She’s his wife.”

“Branka is married to that… drunk?”

“Yep. Though when she left, she took everyone in their house – mind you, that was about two hundred dwarves – and left him behind. So, married or not, she obviously didn’t want him tagging along.”

“I see. Well, I guess we’d better get up and figure out what to do next. You, ah… don’t happen to know what time it is?” I asked.

“We don’t really run a traditional schedule down here. There is always something going on. Everything pretty much runs all the time.”

“Would there be any point in going to the Assembly now?”

“Sure. They are probably in session as we speak.” the dwarf replied politely. “In fact, I believe they are expecting you, Wardens.”

“Thank you for your help.” I smiled.

“Anytime, Grey Wardens. Anytime.”

 

We rolled up our sleeping supplies and clipped them to our packs. After slipping the packs onto our backs and gathering our weapons, we headed past the royal palace quarters and over to the Assembly Hall.

Once we stepped into the hall, the temperature dropped, not by much, but it was still a noticeable difference. I doubted I was going to ever be comfortable down in the depths of Orzammar. How the dwarves, or for that matter Sten and Alistair, stand the heat in their heavy armor? I was wearing a short-sleeved leather robe and I was absolutely roasting!

We headed to a large set of double doors in front of us. A guard gruffly said, “The Assembly is in session. Enter quietly if you wish to observe.”

I nodded respectfully and we opened the doors quietly. The sound of arguing dwarves immediately greeted our ears.

“Your mind has gone to dust if you think we would pass such a writ!” a pale blond, clean-shaved dwarf shouted. “Half our houses would go broke without the surface trade!”

“The proposal is only effective until we have a King to ensure we are respected by the surfacers!” another dwarf interjected.

“Leaving you conveniently positioned to take over all contracts!” the blond dwarf seethed. “I’ll see your head on a pike first!”

An elderly dwarf standing in the center pleaded for calm. “Deshyrs, lords, and ladies of the Assembly… I’ve already doubled the guard to prevent violence. Must I summon more?”

The blond dwarf spoke to the elder one. “Steward Bandelor, Bhelen’s sympathizers are tying our hands with trivialities! They may as well open us to the sky!”

A pretty black-haired dwarf woman then said, “I suggest we put the matter to a vote.”

“And I suggest you have a taste of my family’s mace – ” yet another shouted.

The elder dwarf, Steward Bandelor, shook his head. “Enough! The Assembly is in recess until the members can regain control of their emotions!” He then headed towards us. We turned and left the council room.

Once outside, Steward Bandelor muttered. “Stone-forsaken fools and dusters!” To us, he then said, “I’m sorry. This is the Assembly of the Clans. Only Deshyrs and occasional guests of state are allowed in.”

“But I am a Grey Warden… as is my companion here,” I said as Alistair came up to my side.

Bandelor sighed. “Forgive me, I am so exhausted. I completely forgot about the message from the gate guard.” He smiled at us. “Welcome to Orzammar, Wardens. I hope you can forgive our unrest. The loss of our King has hit us hard.”

 _As has the loss of ours,_ I thought sadly.

Bandelor continued. “Respect for your role is great, but you won’t be able to receive a proper hearing until we have a King on our throne.”

“Is there anything we can do to help break the stalemate?” I asked.

“I must admit, Wardens, I am at a loss myself. It lies with Prince Bhelen or Lord Harrowmont, and they are slow to trust anyone in these uncertain times. I only wish there was more I could do for you.” Bandelor nodded at us and then said, “Good luck, Wardens.” He then went back inside the council room of the Assembly Hall.

As we turned to leave, wondering what we were going to do now, a young dwarf with black hair and a short beard approached us.

“Wardens, welcome. It is always a blessing for Orzammar to host your order. I am Vartag Gavorn, top advisor to our good Prince Bhelen.” He gave us a smile, then asked, “What brings you down to us, if I might ask?”

“We have a treaty that obliges Orzammar to send troops to the surface… to help us combat the Blight.”

“Ah, yes. I have seen a copy of that treaty in the shaper’s libraries. The only problem is that your treaty only compels our King to honor it, and as you are well aware, we are lacking one of those right now.”

“Is there any way we could talk with Prince Bhelen?” Alistair asked.

Vartag gave us an interesting look. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. He beckoned us a little closer and said, “You must understand, Harrowmont hides behind his good reputation while sending spies and assassins. Bhelen can’t know who to trust.” He gave an exaggerated sigh. “It’s been like a knife in the heart for Bhelen to see so many of his father’s men stand with the usurper.”

I couldn’t tell if he was truly being sincere or not. I decided to test the waters. “I thought King Endrin himself supported Harrowmont,” I said carefully.

Vartag’s eyes narrowed. “That’s what hurts worst of all! That Harrowmont would take advantage of the dying King’s delirium to plant such poisonous suspicions against his own son!” He nodded slowly. “After that, you can surely understand why Bhelen cannot trust the word of a stranger… however reputable that stranger might be.”

One way or another we had to get this resolved, and Bhelen… well, he was the prince. I sighed and asked, “What must we do to prove our good intentions?”

Vartag gave us a very large smile, yet it did not make me feel comfortable. “Harrowmont has engaged in a campaign of bribery and coercion to ensure that every house serves him. But, if a neutral party, a stranger, were to approach certain key members, perhaps with irrefutable evidence of Harrowmont’s deception…”

“Irrefutable evidence? Which I suppose **you** have?” Wynne said quietly.

Either Vartag didn’t hear her or chose to ignore her. “I am sure my lord prince would show his gratitude.”

I glanced at the rest of my friends, then back to Vartag. “What kind of evidence?” I sighed.

With a sly smile, he said, “Harrowmont promised the same portion of his estate to two different deshyrs – Lady Dace and Lord Helmi. He can’t possibly grant it to both of them, but they won’t find out until after the vote is cast. I have copies of the promissory notes Harrowmont gave to each of them. Once they see those, they should both reconsider their votes.”

I wasn’t liking this. “Where did you get these promissory notes?”

“That’s not important,” Vartag said as he frowned. “If they ask, just say you found them while searching the shapers’ libraries for your treaty.”

 _He wants me to lie? Just to curry favor for the prince?_ Lips pursed, I took the papers from him and said, “Where do I find Lady Dace and Lord Helmi?”

“Lady Dace doesn’t leave the Quarter much, so you should find here somewhere here. Lord Helmi is a bit more adventurous, you may find him at Tapsters.” Then his expression darkened. “Remember, don’t tell them you got these papers from me. You learned of them and drew your own conclusions.”

 

We walked out of the Assembly Hall. I had just started to appreciate the cooler air in there, but now we were back out in the stifling heat.

“Maker! How do they stand this? I am so sweaty!” I muttered.

“You are still gorgeous,” Alistair whispered in my ear, making me smile for just a moment. A bit louder, he then said, “It is incredible being inside an actual volcano, and the city is amazing, but you're right… the temperature is a bit, ah, extreme?”

“That is putting it mildly,” Leliana said.

“I suppose growing up in Antiva did prepare me a bit more… being more of a desert climate there. But even so, I am also rather uncomfortable,” Zevran agreed.

Shale then put in his two coppers, “I don’t feel hot… or cold.”

“You wouldn’t!” Alistair chuckled.

Wynne then came up to me. “Please tell me you are not actually going to turn those papers over to these deshyrs, Kylara. I know we need to get someone on the dwarven throne, but his ‘evidence’ does seem a bit convenient, does it not?”

“Yes Wynne, I agree,” I said. “So let’s head on over to the Shaperate. We have things to check there, and perhaps someone there can also take a look at this so-called evidence of Vartag’s.”

“Good idea,” Alistair nodded, then came up and embraced me from behind. He then murmured in my ear, “my very clever little mage…”

I tilted my head back a bit so my lips could reach his. He held me tighter and kissed me tenderly. It was bliss… until Morrigan started complaining.

“Honestly! We might as well just let the Blight overwhelm us all since the two of you can’t seem to keep apart!”

“Oh, Morrigan. Let them be. I think it’s cute!” Leliana sighed.

“Someday, my beauteous dark witch, you will find someone who will do the same for you,” Zevran rumbled, his accent thick. “Maybe someone… like me?”

“Keep dreaming, elf. It’s not going to happen,” Morrigan smirked.

Zevran shrugged. “We’ll see.”

I reluctantly pulled away from Alistair. “Come on,” I said. “Let’s get to the Shaperate.”

 

Another temperature extreme hit us as we entered the Shaperate. This time it was actually quite chilly. I saw fans in the back of the room; the dwarven technology pulling in the cold, dry mountain air from outside.

Wynne shivered, the chill air rapidly cooling the sweat on her body. “I suppose they have to keep it cooler in here, to help protect all of the old documents.”

We headed deeper into the room. An elderly dwarf with snow-white hair greeted us. He had a deep and pleasant voice.

“When I last walked this hall, Endrin was King and Orzammar was at peace. The Memories often speak of the swiftness with which change overtakes us, but it is different to see it first hand.” He reached out and shook my hand, then Alistair’s, briefly. “I apologize, Wardens, I should not burden you with such thoughts. I am Czibor, the shaper of memories.”

“How did you know who we were?” Alistair asked.

Czibor gave a gentle smile. “The Grey Warden’s visit has already been recorded in the Memories, along with all who have accompanied you.”

Before I handed Czibor the papers from Vartag, I remembered Brother Burkel’s request. “I, um, know this may seem like a strange request, but would it be possible to open a Chantry here?”

Leliana seemed surprised by this, but she hadn’t been with us when I had spoken to the Brother.

Czibor also seemed taken aback. “That is an odd request… especially for someone so new to our city.”

“I understand. I actually have come on behalf of Brother Burkel, a cleric of Redcliff.” I replied.

“I thought so,” Czibor said slowly. “This is not the first he’s made this plea. My answer to him hasn’t changed, so I ask you the same, Warden. On what basis would you have me insult the ancestors and overturn two thousand years of tradition?”

“If you don’t mind,” Leliana spoke up, and Czibor turned to face her, “I think that a Chantry here would be a valuable addition. Their charities could greatly aid your city.”

That seemed to give Czibor pause. “What sort of charities do you mean?”

“Why, many! They can help with widows and orphans, they could provide work for the poor, and they could educate children of all castes!” Leliana gushed enthusiastically.

“Hmm, I am not certain this is in Orzammar’s best interests. Our castes have served us well. But,” he paused for a moment, as though he was giving it serious thought, “I suppose it is possible this service could benefit our people.” He sighed. “Very well. He may hold a prayer meeting as he requested, if not build a new temple to his ‘god’. At least the words would come from one of our own.”

“Oh, thank you, sir!” Leliana smiled at him.

“I will record this conversation in the Memories. I hope I do not come to regret it.” He turned and wrote into a massive tome behind him. After a few moments, he looked back at us. “Was there anything else you needed, Warden?”

“Yes, actually there is.” I brought out the papers. “Would you be willing to look at these promissory papers for me?”

Czibor nodded and took them from me. He was quiet for a while as he looked them over carefully. Then he said, “These are Harrowmont lands promised here… But these are not the deals we approved in the Shaperate.” His eyes narrowed. “Where did you get these?”

“Vartag Gavorn gave them to me. They are forged?”

“Not entirely. There were two promised deals, but their terms differ significantly from what is presented here. It appears the scripter altered the dates and locations of the agreements to make them look identical.”

“I see,” I said as he handed the papers back to me. “Thank you, but I believe I need to have words with someone now.”

Czibor gave me a warning look. “You are an outsider, Warden, but not outside the law. I hope you will not do anything to challenge the stability of Orzammar.”

I nodded and turned to leave.

Just before we reached the doors heading back into the quarter, Alistair asked, “What are you going to do?”

“I will just talk with Vartag. I want to know why he wanted us to lie.”

“You will keep it civil, yes?” Zevran said dryly. “I do not fancy seeing the inside of an Orzammar prison.”

“Have a little faith, all right?” I gave a small smile. “I can keep my temper when needed.”

“Mm-hmm,” Morrigan muttered. “We’ll see.”

 

We headed back to the Assembly Hall, which was not too far from the Shaperate. Once inside, I found Vartag was still there. Perhaps he had been waiting for us to return?

“Now, that was quicker than I expected,” he said. “So the deed is done? The papers have been delivered?”

“Not exactly.”

Vartag looked surprised and slightly angry. “What do you mean?”

“We were just at the Shaperate. The shaper of memories confirmed my suspicions.” I held the paperwork in front of his face. “These documents are forged.”

He didn’t even flinch. “Well, naturally they are forged! There is no legal way for Harrowmont to sell the same land twice-over, is there?”

“Where did you really get these?” I asked.

“Fine. Do you want to know how the game is played? I wrote the papers, and left a sizable fee with the registry office to back them.” His eyes narrowed dangerously. “But if you think figuring it out gets you off the line, you don’t understand how this works. I am asking for a show of loyalty. So exactly how much truth is involved shouldn’t matter in the slightest. Now… where does your allegiance lie, Warden?”

“If Bhelen thinks lying and threatening the Grey Wardens is going to get us to approve him as a candidate for your throne, then you are sorely mistaken.” I turned to my friends. “I think we should now have a word with Lord Harrowmont.”

Vartag shouted as we left, “My prince doesn’t need your support! We will get him on the throne without you… and if you think Harrowmont isn’t going to do the same to you, then you are full of sod!”

Back into the blast furnace that the dwarves called home, I paused briefly. _What if Vartag is right? How sure was I that Harrowmont wasn’t exactly like Bhelen?_ Alistair must have sensed the conflict in me as he came up and gave me a gentle squeeze to try and reassure me.

“Don’t fret, love. We will figure it out. I’ll support you no matter what.”

“But what if we put the wrong person on the throne here? I just don’t want this to come back to bite us in the ass.”

“Well, we won’t know anything until we talk to Harrowmont,” Wynne said.

Just then a dwarf with light brown hair and a rather intricately braided beard came up the steps towards us. “Grey Wardens,” he said and bowed his head slightly to acknowledge us. “I am Dulin Forender, second to Lord Harrowmont, King Endrin’s own choice as successor. We have heard that the surface is suffering a Blight and we are aware of the treaty. It is shameful that we are not in a better position to help.”

“What can we do to help your lord trust us?” I asked, getting right to the point.

Dulin seemed to think about it. “You could attend the Provings today.”

“How will that help?”

“It seems that Bhelen, or one of his lackeys, has found some way to blackmail or intimidate House Harrowmont’s best fighters into stepping down. If we don’t have a good showing at the Proving, that will reflect poorly on Harrowmont, and the deshyrs take these Provings very seriously.”

“I’m still not sure how this will help, but we will go,” I said.

“If you do, perhaps you can find out why our fighters dropped out… Or you **could** enter yourself and champion Harrowmont.”

 _Ah, there it was. Now we’re getting down to the real reason he wants us to go. Still, fighting for Harrowmont seems better than lying for Prince Bhelen,_ I thought.

I glanced at everyone. Most of my friends had the look that said, _Do what you think is best._ Alistair nodded at me. So I turned back and asked Dulin, “Do you want me to find out why your fighters dropped out, or do you want us to fight?”

“You can choose either one, but both would really speak strongly for my lord. It would be… enlightening to find out why our fighters dropped out, but I hope you won’t go prying too deeply into things that they don’t wish to be revealed. Their names are Gwiddon and Baizyl.”

Zevran surprised me by suddenly chuckling and saying, “This is the man you want to be their King? One who cannot keep his own fighters from running like frightened children?”

Dulin frowned at this. “Lord Harrowmont does not use threats or intimidation to motivate his men. He leads by example.”

“Ah, I see,” Zevran smirked. “So it’s his example they follow as they cower from Prince Bhelen?”

“How dare you slander Lord Harrowmont!” Dulin fumed.

I faced Zevran abruptly and whispered vehemently, “Your snide comments are not helping right now, Zev! Besides, wasn’t it you who said you didn’t want to see the inside of an Orzammar prison?”

He seemed taken aback by my anger. “I just thought… I mean, why should we ally ourselves with someone too scared to grant us an audience?”

“I didn’t exactly see Bhelen willingly come up to talk to us either. Did you?”

“Well, no,” Zevran mumbled.

“This is a volatile situation. We need a King here to get the treaty dealt with and we need to get back to the surface to deal with the Blight. Do I know if I am picking the right guy? No, I don’t. But I want to get this resolved and quickly. So please, let’s just get this done. Are we good?”

Zevran barely nodded, still clearly in shock that I had snapped at him like that. When I went to speak with Dulin again, I noticed that Wynne had blessedly distracted him when I had been dealing with Zevran.

“The carvings and reliefs you all have built over the centuries still boggles the mind.” I heard Wynne say.

Dulin was now beaming, “Thank you. It is nice to have our culture so appreciated.”

“I will do it,” I said to Dulin.

“Huh? Oh, yes.” He smiled at first, then seemed momentarily confused. “Do what now?”

“I will do both. I will find out why your fighters dropped out and I will fight in Harrowmont’s name.”

“Thank you. This will please Harrowmont. Bhelen would never work for anyone who humiliated him in that way and my lord would certainly have no fear of meeting you afterwards. The arena is in the Commons. Just go to the Proving Master and tell him you’re entering Lord Harrowmont’s roster. If you also do want to speak with Gwiddon and Baizyl, look for them in the fighter’s preparation chambers. Just make sure you do all of this before the first bout. After that, it will be too late to change the roster. The fights will begin in the evening.”

“How will we know when that is? I haven’t seen a clock down here.”

“We have a horn on the surface that is blown, and the sound reverberates in the Commons. It sounds once in the morning at sunup, twice when the sun is at its apex, and three times at dusk. Though our city doesn’t really have ‘normal’ hours, the horn lets the working dwarves know when to start, when to take a lunch, and when to quit. You will listen for the three blasts. The fights should begin shortly after that.”

“I wondered what that sound was that I had heard when we were first down here. Just after we got inside, I thought I head three loud sounds.” Alistair said. “But I didn’t hear anything when we got up a few hours ago.”

Dulin smiled. “The nobles find it a bit rude, so the sound doesn’t really penetrate into the Diamond Quarter. You can just barely hear it if you are by the doors that would lead back to the Commons.”

I yawned. “Is there someplace where we can rest for a while? We tried to get some sleep earlier, but – ”

“There are small rooms in the fighter’s preparation area. You can rent one from the Proving Master for a few silvers. The rooms are small, but they have a bed and facilities.”

“Thank you. That is good to hear. If am going to fight this evening, I’d rather be well rested.”

“After the fights are over, you can find me at Tapsters. I’ll wait there for you.” Dulin said. “Ancestor’s luck be with you, Wardens.”

 

We all headed down to the Commons, crossed a bridge over a lava lake, and entered into the arena. Once inside, the temperature cooled a little again. I found the Proving Master standing by two large doors which I assumed led to the fighting area.

“Hello,” I said and shook his hand. “My name is Kylara and I am a Grey Warden.”

“Welcome, Warden! What can I do for you today?”

“I am here to enter myself onto Lord Harrowmont’s roster.”

“Really? Are you going to fight this evening? That will be a real treat for us! All right, let me just enter your… ah, do mind if I just put you down as ‘Grey Warden’? Your human names can sometimes be a bit difficult to pronounce.”

“That’s fine,” I said and smiled.

“Okay, you are now in the roster. Anything else I can do for you?” he asked.

“Yes, two things actually. I need to know where I can find Gwiddon and Baizyl. I’d also like to rent some rooms so that we may rest before the fights.”

“Sure, sure! Baizyl is standing right over there.” He pointed to his right. “I believe, Gwiddon was last seen down there…” He pointed to a long hallway, also on his right. “As for the rooms, how many do you need?”

I talked it over with everyone. Zevran said he would just lean up against the wall and nap. Sten shook his head. I knew Shale didn’t need anything. Leliana, Wynne, and Morrigan all said they would take one. So including Alistair and myself… “We will need four, please.”

“That will be twenty silvers,” The Proving Master said.

I took my pack off, got the required amount out, and paid him. He then walked us over to four rooms against the left wall.

“Here you go. The doors lock from the inside, to give you privacy. Enjoy your rest and we will see you this evening. I’ll send someone by to make sure you are ready.”

“Thank you.” After he walked away, I said “we should go check with Harrowmont’s other two fighters before we rest. Let’s find out their stories on why they have dropped out.”

Alistair, Wynne, and Leliana followed me as I approached Baizyl.

Before I could even greet him, he shook his head and spoke gruffly to us. “Look, I already told the Proving Master that I have withdrawn. Do you have to keep harassing me?”

“I am not here to harass you. My name is Kylara and I am a Grey Warden. I will be fighting on behalf of Lord Harrowmont this evening.”

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude, but so many people have been bothering me since I withdrew. I am Baizyl.”

“Dulin told me about you. If you don’t mind me asking though, did someone make you drop out of the Provings?” I asked politely.

His guard immediately went up again. “I left the Proving on my own business and I’ve no intention of discussing it!”

“If you tell me what is happening, I might be able to help you. Please?”

Baizyl softened again. “All right. Look, it’s just… when I was younger I had a romance with an Aeducan girl, Revelka. She was a lesser cousin, nowhere near the throne.” He sighed. “Her family wanted her marrying up, however, so they matched her with a Bemot. But… we didn’t exactly stop seeing each other.”

“And somehow Bhelen found out?” I asked quietly.

He nodded. “She’s married to a deshyr’s heir. He’d kill me if he found out! So I have to slink out of here like some worthless brand for fear Bhelen will tell the whole city.”

“Did Bhelen threaten you himself?”

“N-no. One of his fighters, a woman named Myaja. She’s the one who threatened to expose me.”

“I see. What evidence does she have on you?”

“I thought we were discreet, but they have letters – love letters that Revelka wrote to me. If they were made public, she would be disgraced! Her husband would cast her aside, and I would be lucky to be allowed to die in a duel.” He shook his head sadly.

“Would you be willing to fight again… if your secret was safe?”

Baizyl’s eyes widened. “I-I don’t think there is any way to guarantee that. Look, I appreciate the thought, but they really have me over a shaft here.”

I gave him a sly smile. “Oh, I think we can get those letters back. Don’t you worry. Now, which way is Myaja’s room?”

Baizyl cautiously pointed to it, then whispered, “If you can get them back… I’d be really grateful. I know this is my own fault, but I’d have married Revelka if I could have.”

I turned and whispered into Leliana’s ear. She grinned and walked off quietly. Baizyl looked at me curiously.

“Um, why are you still just standing there?” he asked me.

“Patience,” I replied.

A moment later, Leliana popped out of stealth and handed me a bundle of letters. I then handed them to a shocked Baizyl. He flipped through them and then glanced around. Seeing no one else looking (save for us), he unlatched the front of his breastplate and stuffed the letters inside against his shirt, then snapped his breastplate back into place.

“I don’t know how you got these and I don’t want to know… but thank you.” He gave us a faint smile. “I guess I will now go back to the Proving Master and get my name back on the roster. Again, thank you.” He bowed and then left us.

We then walked down the hall to find Gwiddon. There were quite a few dwarven fighters in this area and I wasn’t sure which one was him. As it turned out, we didn’t have to find him, he came up to us.

“So you’re the Grey Wardens? Heard you were going to be fighting! That’s great news! Sorry that I won’t be joining you though. Name’s Gwiddon.” He shook my hand.

“Nice to meet you. But, may I ask why have you dropped out of the Provings?”

“Ah, I just don’t think the ancestors would favor me tonight.”

“Surely there is more to it than that, young man,” Wynne said.

“Well,” he paused for a moment. “It’s just that I heard from a reliable source that Lord Harrowmont has already given up the throne. Bhelen called this whole Proving to let his lordship save face when he concedes.”

“I don’t know who your ‘reliable source’ is, but Harrowmont is **not** conceding,” I said.

“Well, who is more reliable than a member of the Assembly? I mean, you are new here. Who is **your** source?” Baizyl gave me a look.

“Dulin Forender. He told me to come and fight for Harrowmont and to rally his other fighters.”

Baizyl seemed surprised. “Well, I suppose there’s nothing his lordship would do without consulting Dulin. He’s always been his top man.” He then pounded his fist against his other hand. “If I find out this whole thing was some flunky of Bhelen’s lying to me for his own gain, I’ll… I’ll…”

I grinned. “Get back in the Proving and knock some heads?”

“Maybe I will, at that!” He laughed. “All right, I will get back over to the Proving Master and get my name back on the roster. Thanks!”

“See you in the ring then!”

He waved at me and walked off. Now that Harrowmont’s fighters had been dealt with, I relaxed a little and yawned again.

“Tired, love?” Alistair gave me a tender hug. “Come then, let’s get back to our room and get some rest. You’ll need it to be in good shape for this evening.”

We all walked back up the hall and to our rooms. Leliana and Wynne both bid me a good rest, although Leliana had a huge grin on her face as she said it.

Once inside our room, we took a look around. The bed was stone but was covered with several blankets for padding, and there were two chicken-feather pillows. I leaned my staff and pack against the wall as Alistair began taking off his chainmail. Once finished, he put it all in a neat pile, then took off his padded shirt and leggings, followed by his braies. He stood before me with a huge smile.

“Happy there, my Alibear?” I grinned back at him.

“Of course! I am in love with the most incredible woman in all of Thedas!” He came up and kissed me deeply. “What’s not to be happy about?” he murmured and kissed my ear. “Come on now, let’s get your robe off. I am going to help you relax.”

“Oh?” I chuckled. “I am sure I know what that will entail.”

“You think you know, but you’d be wrong.”

“Really? All right then. Surprise me.” I took off my robe and lay it on the floor next to his chainmail, then slipped off my undergarments.

He sat on the bed. “Hmm, still a bit on the hard side,” he commented.

“That’s not the only thing that’s hard around here,” I said with a giggle.

He gave me a wink. “Yes, I know. Come, sit.”

I did and he had me move so that I was directly in front of him. Then he rubbed his hands together briskly, gently placed them on my shoulders, and began rubbing my back with light pressure.

“Oh… ooh! Maker!”

“You like?”

“Ah, yes. This is exactly what I needed!”

His hands rubbed all over, soothing my aching muscles. By the time he was done, I was limp with relaxation. He gave my neck a tender kiss.

“Feel better now?”

“Mm-hmm…” was all I could mumble out.

“Good. Now, lie down,” he said and pulled me into his embrace. “Sleep, love. Pleasant dreams.”

Safe in his strong arms, I was asleep in no time.

 

I felt, rather than heard, the three loud horn blasts indicating dusk on the surface. I sat up on the bed and stretched, feeling really good. The room was pitch dark though.

“Evening, love. I trust you slept all right?” I felt Alistair lean over and then a gas light came on, illuminating the room and his very handsome face.

I leaned over and gave him a gentle kiss. “Yes, thanks to you. How did you know I needed that?”

“The massage? Well, I could see the tension in your neck and shoulders. I knew I had to help you relax.” His face turned serious. “If you are going to fight in a Proving, you need to be at your very best. I have heard they take these battles very seriously.”

“Really? I hope I will do well then if I have to impress.” Then a thought crossed my mind. “But dwarves can’t use magic. They will be fighting with weapons. Are they going to allow me to use my skills? Or would they consider that cheating? Am I going to be reduced to whacking them on the head with my staff?”

Alistair chuckled. “No, love. As far as I am aware, in a Proving, anything goes. The only hard rule is that you cannot kill your opponent. While the dwarven folk can’t use magic spells, they may have enchanted armor and weapons. They can use lyrium to smith their items.”

“I see.”

Just then there was a loud banging on the metal door to our room. From outside we heard, “Grey Warden! Your bout is going to be starting soon! Please come out to the Proving Master!”

“Damn. I was hoping I’d have a little more time to prepare. I’d better get ready.”

Alistair watched me dress with haste. When I had finished, I grabbed my staff. He then got up as well and quickly got into his clothes and armor. He strapped on his sword belt and grabbed his shield.

“Think our packs will be all right in here once we leave?” I asked.

He glanced over at them. “They should be.”

“All right, let’s get going! I’ve got a Proving to win!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10 Translator for the dwarven language found here: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Dwarven_languages_and_phrases
> 
> 11 I am sure that others may have called Alistair “Cheese Man” in their Fan Fictions, but the first story I read it in was this: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4944457 It is a Modern AU story where Alistair is quite addicted to texting on his cell phone. It is a very cute and well-written story! Check it out! (Still a WiP, give some support to the authors!)
> 
> 12 A shout out to an awesome author, George R. R. Martin for his series of books, Game of Thrones, and to HBO for their fascinating version of the show! ^_^


	22. Orzammar (part 2) (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylara fights in the dwarven Provings to show her loyalty to Lord Harrowmont. She finally gets to meet the reclusive lord who then sends her on another mission to help his goal of becoming King of Orzammar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Incredible art of Alistair & Kylara in the Proving Battle by Agregor (www.deviantart.com/agregor)
> 
> ** Mature Content Ahead **

I walked up to the Proving Master, Alistair holding my hand, and the rest of my friends behind me.

“Looks like you’ve drawn first bout, Grey Warden,” he said as I approached.

“Who will I be facing off against?” I asked.

The Master checked his list. “That would be… Seweryn. He was one of the youngest champions ever. Beat his own father in a Proving when he was only twelve years old! All so he could earn his battle status two years early! Are you ready to start?”

“What about my friends?”

“Oh, they can follow me to the announcer’s box. It’s where guests of state can watch our Provings.”

Alistair squeezed my hand and I took a calming breath. “I am ready.”

“All right then, everyone here, through these doors. Warden, you will wait before the next set of doors, the rest of you may follow me up the stairs to the box.”

Everyone started following the Master up a flight of stairs, but I held tight to Alistair’s hand for a moment.

“Are you all right?” he asked with concern.

I nodded. “Yes. I’ll be all right. I just need you… to kiss me.”

“Here? Now?”

“Yes, please. Do it quickly before the doors open.”

He nodded and brought his lips to mine. I reached into myself, trying to find our connection. Like an oil lamp that had just been lit, I felt the spark within myself ignite. I dimly heard the Proving Master beginning the announcements. I deepened the kiss and heard Alistair groan. He began hungrily kissing back. The spark suddenly flared to life and I felt my magic burning brightly within.

Alistair must have felt something as well because I heard him whisper, “If our kisses are always going to feel this way from now on…” He gave me another quick kiss. “I look forward to a lot more…”

The double doors in front of me began to open. Alistair quickly ran to the stairwell and gave me one of his huge grins and a thumbs-up sign. He then ran up to the announcer’s box.

I walked onto the arena floor and saw my opponent, Seweryn. I could see that he was in splintmail armor and was armed with a small hand axe and a shield. Then I heard the Proving Master say, “Opposing Seweryn and fighting for Lord Harrowmont today is a member of the famed Grey Wardens!”

Seweryn bowed politely to me. “In the name of House Aeducan and our future King Bhelen!”

“You honor me with this fight,” I said and bowed back. I had my staff ready but wasn’t sure what I would do just yet. I had to be careful as I knew some of my spells could be very strong and I didn’t want to overdo it.

“The first warrior to fall is vanquished,” the Proving Master shouted. “Fight!”

Seweryn charged at me, his axe raised to strike. I quickly cast a small ice spell intending to freeze his feet to the ground, but even that came out much stronger than expected. Ice encased all of Seweryn’s armor. I quickly cast stonefist. The ice shattered and Seweryn went flying back a few meters, landing hard on the stone floor. He groaned in pain and did not rise.

I waited anxiously, holding my breath, and then heard, “The winner is the Grey Warden!” My breath left me in a rush and the crowd began to cheer. I raised my hand and waved. The guards on the arena floor then led me out through the same doors I had entered.

Alistair rushed down the stairs from the announcer’s box and quickly swept me into his arms. He swung me around once. “Brilliant, love! I knew you could do it!”

The Proving Master came down next. “That was an exciting start, Grey Warden. Seweryn is rarely trounced – and so thoroughly! You may rest for a bit now. Your next bout will be after Gwiddon and Baizyl have had their turns.”

“I was a little worried there,” I said quietly to Alistair. “My spells have gotten a lot stronger, especially as of late.”

“Yes, I noticed that as well,” Morrigan commented as she came down the stairs. “You will need to come up with a strategy before your next bout. ‘Tis unwise to use the same spells over and over; else you will look like a one-trick pony. Your opponents will also notice and take advantage of such a situation.”

I nodded and we all walked over to a group of benches. I sat down, Alistair next to me, and Morrigan sat opposite of us. The rest of my friends just stood nearby, listening in to the conversation.

“So we know ice spells can work, along with some earth spells. I wouldn’t want to use earthquake, however,” I said.

“Why not?” Morrigan asked. “’Twould be an asset. You would knock your opponent off his or her feet.”

“And we are in an active volcano. It could have disastrous results if the spell got out of hand.”

Morrigan was silent, then said. “’Tis a good point.” She thought for a moment, then said, “Lightning spells would also be out, I suppose. You wouldn’t want to electrocute anyone wearing metal.”

“What about your fire spells?” Alistair asked.

“Big ones would not be an option. Again, if it got out of control… But perhaps a small one? It could startle them.”

“You do know paralysis?” Morrigan asked. I nodded. “How about repulsion?”

“I haven’t used it in awhile, but yes, I know that one as well.”

“Good,” she said. “That will give you options.”

“There are not many, but I know some air spells as well.”

“Like that whirlwind you called down at Shadmoor!” Alistair exclaimed.

“Yes, but I’d again want to be careful and not go too powerful…”

“Do you know any combat sleep spells?” Morrigan interjected.

I thought about it. “No, I don’t know those. The one I used on Connor would not work in a fighting situation.”

“Probably not enough time to teach you those right now. But seeing how quickly you pick spells up… Perhaps the next break between fights?” She glanced up. “Looks like they might be getting ready for you again.”

I saw that both Gwiddon and Baizyl had returned from their fights. They both gave me a smile, so I guess they had won their respected matches.

“Grey Warden, you’re up next!” I heard the Proving Master shout.

I got up from the bench and walked over, nerves tingling. “Who am I facing off against now?” I asked.

He checked the roster. “You will be up against… oh, now this will be exciting! You will face off against Myaja and Lucjan.”

“A two on one battle?” Alistair said in a surprised tone. “Is that going to be fair?”

The Proving Master nodded towards me as he answered Alistair. “She has already proven herself in my eyes. She is more than capable. Besides, as twins, Myaja and Lucjan have always been allowed to fight as a single person.”

“Am I allowed to ask for any more information?”

“Yes. They are both Warrior Caste, but their mother was a smith… so watch out for Myaja’s hammer. Also, don’t forget about Lucjan. Most fighters do and end up with a knife in their spine.”

 _Oh,_ _what a_ _comforting_ _thought that is_ _!_

“I need just a moment. I won’t be long.” I said. Then I walked over to Morrigan.

As if she’d read my thoughts, Morrigan said quietly, “Use something to stun one of them. I say this Lucjan person… then focus on Myaja. Take her down quickly. Then you can focus on the remaining twin.”

“I was actually thinking that very same thing. Good to know. Thanks, Morrigan.”

She gave a sly grin and nodded.

Wynne looked worried. “You really think you’ll be all right out there?”

“I think Morrigan’s and my strategy is a sound one. I should be fine.” I said. I started to head back to the Master.

Zevran then stopped me. “Kylara, I want you to know… I am sorry about the things I said earlier. I do trust in you and I know you will do what is right.” He gave me a concerned look. “Please be careful out there.”

“Thank you, Zev. Apology accepted… and I will be careful.” I briefly touched his shoulder. “You have my word.”

He nodded and left with everyone else to head back up to the announcer’s box. Before he headed up, Alistair’s eyes locked with mine. I gave him a smile and mouthed, _Love you_ , to him.

 _Good luck_ , he mouthed back to me.

Back at the Master, I finally said, “I am ready.”

“Good. I get the match started quickly. Wait here, as you did before,” he said, indicating the double doors. He then ran up the stairs. A moment later, I heard him shouting from above. “This round, Harrowmont’s champion will take on the notorious duo, the Warrior Caste’s twin terrors, now fighting for Prince Bhelen – Myaja and Lucjan!”

The double doors opened and I stepped out onto the stone arena floor. Myaja and her brother walked up to face me. They both bowed, but also sneered at the same time.

“May the Stone honor you…” Myaja said.

Lucjan followed with, “…when you fall!”

Pleasantries over, I smirked back at them and replied, “Sure, and may the dirt taste good when I feed it to you!”

From the announcer’s box, “First warrior to fall is vanquished. Fight!”

First thing I noticed was that Myaja didn’t have a hammer, but like Seweryn, she had a one-handed axe and shield. Her brother had twin daggers. I reached into myself and then pointed at Lucjan. “Na gluais!” I shouted and he immediately froze in place, though I could see his eyes looking around in a panic.

“What have you done to him?!” Myaja yelled. She then began charging at me.

I closed my eyes and murmured the shapeshifting spell that Morrigan had taught me awhile back. Suddenly, I was no longer me, but a great black bear! I roared at Myaja, who skidded to a halt mid-charge. She backed away in terror. I reared up and smacked out one of my mighty paws. Her axe went flying out of her hand. The strength of my swing also knocked her down. My claws had scratched her and she was bleeding; down and out for the round. Seeing his sister hurt, however, snapped Lucjan out of my paralysis spell.

“Myaja!” he bellowed. Both daggers drawn, he glared at me, “You’ll pay for that, mage!” He went into stealth.

I could still sense him in bear form but decided that pure muscle and bulk was not needed. I reversed the spell in my mind, but then spoke it again, changing myself into a small flying beetle. Since he could no longer see where I had gone, Lucjan popped out of stealth. I landed behind him. Once more I thought the reversal spell and then spoke the transformation quietly once again, this time becoming a great cat. I tensed up and before someone in the crowd could warn him, I pounced onto his back. Lucjan sprawled face down on the ground. His daggers slid out of his hands and across the arena floor. My claws pierced his leather armor and when his blood dripped onto the ground, the fight was called.

“The winner is… the Grey Warden!”

I leapt off of Lucjan’s back and became myself again. I then bowed to the audience and left the arena.

Once back in the fighter’s preparation area, the Master approach me with a look of awe on his face. “That was really exciting! You took both of them down so quickly! Very impressive, Warden!”

Morrigan also was impressed. “Very good use of strategy, becoming something so small that he ended up revealing himself to you.”

Zev came up and gave me a quick hug. “I know I’ve said it before and I will say it again! You are definitely not a mage to be trifled with! Great job out there!”

Shale rumbled, “I was not aware it could change itself like that. Just do me a favor and do not become a bird. I’d hate to accidentally crush it now.”

Figuring that was his way of paying me a compliment, I replied, “Thank you for the warning, Shale. I promise… no bird transformations.”

 

I was glad when the Proving Master told me I had a bit more time before my next bout. Keeping good on her word, Morrigan sat down with me and gave me a rudimentary lesson on combat sleep spells. In order to practice, I asked Alistair if I could try it on him.

“I suppose I could practice spar with you,” he said.

“That won’t work,” Morrigan interrupted. “It is a combat sleep spell. You would actually need to be threatening her for the spell to work.”

“I’ll do it,” Sten said. “I have no qualms about attacking her.”

“You won’t hurt her, will you?” Alistair asked with concern.

Sten gave Alistair a look. “Are you really that stupid? Do you think if you ask a darkspawn nicely, they would spare her when they attack? She must learn to defend no matter the circumstances.”

I put my hand on Alistair’s cheek. “Sten is right.” I gave him a quick kiss. “Don’t worry. I’ll be all right.”

We walked over and into a room that the Proving Master had told us was used for practice and training. It was pretty large, about six meters square with some kind of padding on the floor. Once more, Morrigan went over the spell with me.

I then faced Sten. He drew his sword and without any warning, he charged at me.

I closed my eyes and focused. The gap between us closed… five meters, four, three…

I shouted out the spell and to my surprise, Sten stopped mid-charge, dropped his sword, and fell to the ground, out cold.

“Woah,” I heard Alistair murmur. “That was a little scary!” He then flashed me a smile.

Morrigan walked over to Sten and spoke a different spell. He immediately came-to and seemed surprised to find himself on the ground. She then turned to me and asked, “Do you want to try and practice that again?”

The look I saw on Sten’s face pretty much made my decision. “No,” I said with a grin. “I think I have it down.”

 

“Well, this next bout should be quick and dirty,” the Proving Master told me. “You’ll be fighting against Hanashan, one of the legendary Silent Sisters. She is a ferocious fighter who was dedicated enough to cut out her own tongue!”

My face must have shown some sort of shock as I saw the Master frown slightly. “Forgive my ignorance in not knowing this, but why did she cut out her tongue?” I asked.

“Ah, yes. You are still learning,” the Master said. “Allow me to explain then. The Silent Sisters order was founded after the death of Astyth the Grey, a dwarven warrior, who first fought for women's right to be soldiers. When no one listened to her words, she cut out her tongue and dedicated herself to training until she won a Grand Proving bare-handed. Members of the order do the same to honor Astyth.”

“I see. Thank you for explaining.” I took a deep breath and let it out. “I am ready to fight.”

“Excellent! We’ll see you in the ring!”

I waited by the doors and heard the Master announcing my fight. “Harrowmont’s Champion has cleared the stone, but can she hold her own against the Paragon’s own favorites – The Silent Sisters?” I heard the crowd roar in approval. “We’ll find out as the Warden faces Lady Hanashan, who is fighting for Prince Bhelen today!”

The doors opened and I made my way out to the center of the arena. Lady Hanashan faced me and bowed, but when her head came back up I saw the malice in her eyes.

I bowed back and said quietly, but still loud enough for Hanashan to hear, “You think self-mutilation is supposed to frighten me?”

Hanashan’s eyes widened in shock at my apparent gall. She drew her longsword.

“Fight!” I heard from the Master.

Hanashan charged. I focused with all my might on my new spell. “Tha mi airson gum bi thu a 'cadal! A-nis!” <I want you to sleep! Now!>

I saw Hanashan slow her charge. She stopped and stood wobbling on her feet; a look of confusion on her face. Her eyes closed.

“Thoir sùil air na h-eagal agad!” <Look at your fears!> I shouted

Hanashan’s eyes flew open, but she wasn’t looking at me. Whatever she was seeing made her back away slowly, then she turned and began running away.

“Talamh, cuidich mi. Cùm an neach-dùbhlain agam fhathast!” <Earth, help me. Keep my opponent still!>

A hand - made from the stone of the arena floor - grabbed Hanashan as she ran by, tripping her. She tried to tuck into a roll but still ended up on her back. I cautiously approached her which turned out to be a smart move, as she quickly swung her sword out. I just barely managed to leap over the low swung blade. I quickly tapped the bottom of my staff against her armor and cast a quick shock spell. She twitched and jerked as the current moved through her body. With that, she dropped her sword on the ground and the fight was called.

“The winner is the Grey Warden!”

The crowd began cheering for me. “Warden! Warden! Warden!” I heard them shout. I looked up at the announcer’s box to see all of my friends beaming at me. I waved at everyone and left the floor.

 

The Proving Master greeted me as I came back to the fighter’s area. “Harrowmont will be very pleased. The Silent Sisters’ support was a great boost for Bhelen. Now there will be an intermission for one turn of this sandglass.” He tapped at a large glass vial filled with black sand that was near the stairs leading to the announcer’s box. “Then the battles will resume. You will have time to retire to your room and rest. We will come and get you when your turn comes up again.”

“Any idea what the next battle will be like?”

“Why yes. Your next fight will actually be a two on two battle. You may choose a second to go on the floor with you. Do you know whom you will pick at this time? I can put them on the roster now if you wish.”

Everyone had gathered around me and in turn, I looked at each of them. After a few moments of silence, Morrigan finally rolled her eyes and shook her head. “As if we would even need to guess who will fight with you.”

Leliana giggled. “Oh, go on. I certainly don’t mind!”

“Well, I do wish it had been me, but alas,” Zevran sighed, “I know with whom your heart lies.”

“I… don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but yes, I would like Alistair at my side for the fight.”

“Of course, dear,” Wynne said gently. “We know. Don’t worry about the rest of us. You still have our full support.”

Sten nodded stiffly, yet there was a hint of a smile on his face.

Shale said, “To be honest, I doubt they would let me fight. Dwarves are well aware of how powerful a golem is. Besides, I am enjoying watching it pummel its enemies. It does not need my help.”

“So then, you have decided?” The Master asked.

I nodded. “I will be fighting with my fellow Grey Warden, Alistair.”

“Of course,” Alistair responded. “I will not let you down.”

“I know you won’t. We are a good team.” I took his hand and gave it squeeze.

“Very good then. You are both on the roster. We will call you when the battle is ready.”

I noticed that the sand was rapidly flowing from the top of the vial to the bottom. “Let’s head back to our room Alistair. I need to get a drink from my water-skin. We can also talk strategy.”

“All right. See the rest of you soon,” he said and waved to the rest of our friends.

 

Once inside our room, doors shut and locked, Alistair quickly removed his chainmail to be more comfortable but kept on his padded shirt and pants. He sat on the stone bed and watched me go over to my pack and fetch my water-skin. I took a long drink, eventually holding it above my mouth and letting the last of the water flow out. Some did land in my mouth, but quite a bit splashed across my face and ran down my neck and chest.

“How is it that you can make the simplest of tasks seem so… sexy,” I heard Alistair groan from where he was sitting.

I dropped my empty water-skin on the ground and slowly made my way back over to the bed where Alistair’s golden eyes were gazing at me hungrily. I sat down next to him.

“Andraste’s Grace, you are so beautiful! Even in the midst of a Proving, covered in sweat, grime, and fighting battles to get a King on their throne, you couldn’t be lovelier.” He leaned over, cupped my face into his hands, and kissed me. “I really wish we had more time for ourselves. I want you so much right now!”

“I know,” I whispered. “I want you too.” I mimicked his gesture, placing my hands on his face, and kissed him back. “Maybe when these fights are over… we can find somewhere to have a bit more time for us.”

“I hope so. We really haven’t had an opportunity to be together since our last night by Lake Calenhad. If it wasn’t for your incredible kisses…” he trailed off, his lips moving closer to mine.

“Yours as well,” I breathed.

His lips gently caressed mine and I felt him sigh, his breath hot against my face. His mouth opened and I took the opportunity to slide my tongue in.

Once my tongue gently caressed his, Alistair made a sound deep in his throat. His hands moved from my face, grabbed my waist, and he pulled me onto his lap – his kisses hot, desperate… devouring. I moaned as I locked my legs behind him. I adjusted the edges of my robe, so that it was not in the way, but also wishing I had had the time to remove it entirely. My arms encircled his neck and I could feel my magic flare to life again as our kisses and passion grew. I started slowly grinding my hips against him.

“Maker’s Balls… why do we have to be clothed!” Alistair cursed in frustration. He pushed up with his feet and swung his body around until he was lying on the stone bed with me straddling him. He bucked upwards slightly, driving a wanton moan from my throat. I began to grind against him faster. With his breath coming faster he growled out, “Kylara!”

In between my frenzied grinding, I somehow managed to work his padded leggings down to finally free his cock, then in desperation to have as much of me in contact with him, I yanked aside my smalls, and slid him up and into me.

The minute my hot, wet flesh rubbed up against the sensitive head of his cock, he jerked in shock and began coming. He cried out and thrust as hard and as deep as he could as jet after jet of his orgasm filled me.

The sheer heat and intensity of it all brought me over the edge as well. As I screamed out his name, my magic flared up and then burst out of me, knocking out the only light source and plunging our room into darkness. Then everything began to shake as a minor quake suddenly began to rock the city.

Alistair quickly threw his arms around me to try and protect me. Once I realized that this was my doing, I reached into myself to draw the energies back into me before I caused any real damage. The quake stopped as quickly as it had started and all was now still in the darkness.

I carefully slid off of Alistair and the bed. In a trembling voice, I murmured, “Thoir dhomh solas…” <Give me light ...> A small ball of light formed and I tossed up to the ceiling. Turning back to face Alistair, I then asked, “A-are you all right?”

He pulled up his pants and then sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m fine. What just happened?”

Still shaking with fear at what had just occurred, I wasn’t sure at first how to respond. A sudden banging on our door saved me from having to answer for the moment. I quickly walked over and opened it to see Leliana and Wynne standing there. Both immediately looked relieved.

“You are both fine?” Leliana asked quickly.

I nodded. “Just a little shaken, that’s all.” I took a quick breath. “We’ll be out in just a bit.” I then closed the door before Leliana or Wynne could ask or say anything else.

Walking back over to Alistair, I finally managed to say, “I-it was my fault.”

“What? The quake? How is that your fault?”

I collapsed into his arms and he held me. “It was me… my magic. I could feel it. It flared up when you and I…” I wiped a tear that had formed in my eye. “I-I just wanted you so much! I’m sorry!”

He smiled gently. “Why are you apologizing? I feel flattered that it felt that amazing for you. Maker knows you make me feel incredible… every time.”

“But I could have caused real harm!”

“But nothing!” he gently chastised me. “You didn’t! Whatever happened with your magic, you were able to stop it. You have more control over your power than you give yourself credit for.” I started to protest again, but he put his finger to my lips to shush me. “Were you perhaps a bit careless? Yes. But now you know. I am sure you can, and will, be more careful in the future, am I right?” He then kissed me tenderly.

“You are right. Thank you… for believing in me.”

“My love, I will always believe in you. You need to believe in yourself more. Just look at all of the amazing things you have done as a mage and as a Warden. Look at all you have accomplished here in Orzammar already!” He gave me another kiss, and whispered in my ear, “Just so you know, I hope to continue what you started… That little taste you gave me just now makes me want you even more than I did before.” He grinned and then glanced at his scattered chainmail. “Before that happens, we still have a few more battles to win, so I had better get ready. I honestly doubt that the dwarves would delay a Proving for something as minor as a quake… magically caused or not!”

That brought out a small laugh from me. “You are probably right.” I picked up his chainmail shirt. “Here, let me help,” I said as I handed it to him.

“Thank you, love.” He pulled it over his head and then quickly gathered and put on the rest of the pieces. After strapping on his sword belt and then handing me my staff, he gave a grin and said, “Now… let’s get out there and show these dwarves that we mean business!”

 

“So are you both ready?” the Proving Master asked as we approached him. We nodded. “Sorry if that quake startled you. We get them every once in a while. Hazards of living in a volcano, as I sure you must realize.” He then smiled. “The crowd is eager to see another victory.” He checked the roster. “This should be a good match for you both. You’ll be battling Wojech Ivo, master of all weapons, prisoner of none. He makes it a point to never use the same technique twice, just like you have been doing, Warden. I believe this will be a very interesting match.”

He headed up the stairs to the box, my friends following him.

As Alistair and I waited by the double doors, I suddenly realized we hadn’t really talked any strategy. He glanced at me, seemingly coming to the same conclusion.

“Um… Think you can keep this Wojech busy and I handle the other guy?” he asked.

“Shouldn’t be a problem. I think we’ll be fine.” I stood up on my tiptoes and quickly brushed my lips against his.

The doors opened and as we walked out onto the arena floor, we heard the Master announce the fight.

“For the semi-finals, this round will be paired combat! Just as Kiotshett fought as King Blodlikk’s second, defending our empire, so have dwarves always fought alongside a second. Today the Grey Warden will battle Wojech Ivo, who has never won the same way twice! What will he do today, lords and ladies, and will it win the day for Prince Bhelen? Today, Wojech’s second will be the up and coming star of the Proving Arena, Velanz!” The Master waited for the cheers to die down and then shouted, “Harrowmont’s champion, The Grey Warden, has chosen to battle with her fellow Warden as her second today!”

Wojech and Velanz both bowed to us. “It is a true honor to battle against the famed Grey Wardens,” Wojech said, his voice slightly muffled due to the full plate helm he was wearing.

“The honor is ours to be here. Thank you.” I said. Alistair and I then bowed back. “May the best team win.”

“Ready? And, fight!”

Alistair had his shield in front, his sword ready and waiting to see Velanz’s first move. I drew Wojech’s attention to me.

“So… let’s see what you’ve got!” I shouted.

Wojech took out his longsword and shield. I saw that Velanz had taken out dual daggers. Alistair was blocking all of his attacks and looking for an opening to strike. I turned back to Wojech who was now advancing on me. I muttered a quick and concentrated fire spell.

“Ah! Sodding hells!” Wojech suddenly shouted. He dropped the sword on the ground, the grip of his sword glowing red with heat. I could see his eyes glittering angrily at me through his helm. He ran off to the side of the arena and cast aside his shield. Then he picked up a warhammer. “You’ll pay for that little trick, Warden!” He started charging me with the hammer ready to swing a mighty blow.

I pointed to the floor in front of Wojech’s oncoming path. “Còmhdach a shlighe le deigh!” <Cover his way with ice!> Then I stepped aside.

“Shiiiiiitttt!” he screamed as his feet slipped. The hammer fell from his hands and he landed on his ass, skidding several meters away. I watched him struggling to get up, but he couldn’t seem to get his footing. I quickly turned my attention to Alistair. I saw him get a shallow strike on Velanz, but it wasn’t enough of a blow to call the fight just yet. Velanz glared at Alistair and vanished into stealth.

I swept my arm out into broad arc. “Seall dhuinn càite!” <Show us where!>

Velanz popped back into view. Alistair rushed in with a shield bash and then struck the surprised Velanz on the head with the pommel of his sword. He fell to the ground out cold. Just then a bolt whizzed by my head. Wojech had finally gotten to his feet and had grabbed a crossbow off of another weapon rack. He quickly reloaded and aimed at Alistair.

“Sgiath!” I shouted. The bolt bounced off harmlessly.

“Damn you!” Wojech yelled. “Stop using these tricks!”

“I believe the rules are that anything goes!” I shouted back. “I am using my skills, now show us yours!”

Wojech bellowed in fury. He tossed the crossbow aside and grabbed a spear. He ran a few steps forward then threw the spear with all his might.

I held up my hand. “Stad!” The spear halted mere centimeters from my face. I grabbed it out of the air, turned it around in my hand, murmured an incantation, and then tossed it to Alistair. He gave me a sly grin, then threw the spear back at Wojech. As it traveled through the air, it caught on fire. Wojech was so stunned, he couldn’t move.

As before, I halted the spear just before it was to strike. Wojech fell to his knees. He took off his helm and tossed it to the ground in defeat.

“The winners are, The Grey Wardens!” the Master shouted.

I ran over to Alistair. “We did it!”

He caught me around my waist and swung me around in victory. After he set me back on my feet, he smiled and said quietly, “I never had any doubts, love.” He took my hand and raised it into the air with his own. The crowd went wild. We bowed and then left the floor.

 

“Wojech Ivo was one of the best this arena has seen, Wardens. Yet you both took him and his second down easily. Harrowmont has chosen his champions wisely.” He smiled and nodded at us both. “Now there will be another short intermission before the final round.” I saw that the previous sandglass had been replaced with a different one. This one had red sand. The Master flipped it over. It flowed quite quickly, making me realize this break was going to be quite short.

“Is there anyplace I can refill my water-skin?” I asked him.

“Water? We don’t have any here except for what comes out of the sinks in the rooms, and that will be hot.”

“Well, do you have anything I can drink to cool down?”

“Beer, ale, stout, or mead? We can order anything you like from Tapsters.”

“Ah… I think I will pass,” I replied. I turned and headed back towards our room.

“Something bothering you?” I heard Alistair ask as he fell into step beside me.

“Just thinking I probably shouldn’t have finished off my water so quickly here,” I grumbled. I opened our door. My light ball was still floating up near the ceiling, lighting up the room. I went to the sink and pumped the handle. It was exactly as the Master had said. The water was extremely hot.

“What are you going to do?” Alistair asked me.

“Toss me my water-skin, please.” He did so and I caught it. “If I can heat water for a bath in Redcliffe or Rainesfere, I can certainly cool water for drinking in Orzammar!” I filled the water-skin with the hot water, popped the cork in place, then ran my hand along the sides. Within minutes, there was a layer of frost on the outside of the skin. Then I uncorked it and took a drink.

“How is it?” Alistair asked with a grin.

“Still a bit metallic tasting, but at least it is cool.” I corked the skin again. “Want some?”

He nodded and I handed it to him. He opened it and took a big drink, making a face as he swallowed it. “Well, I suppose if that it the best we’re going to get down here…” He put the water-skin back with my pack.

We then left the room, shutting the door behind us, and rejoined our friends.

 

“Well, here we are, the Championship round! This will be full squad-on-squad combat. So, who will you pick for your team today, Warden?” The Master asked me.

I beckoned Alistair to come closer to me, then whispered, “I think I should be fair and give the others a chance to fight with me.”

He nodded. “As much as I would love to fight by your side again, I agree. I will be up in the box then, cheering you on.” A quick kiss was placed on my lips and he stepped back.

Back to the Proving Master, I said, “I will choose Sten, Zevran, and Morrigan.” All three of them seemed surprised, yet pleased.

“Very well, you will have a few more moments before the match begins. We will see you soon!”

 

“Piotin Aeducan leads the same team he’s taken to victory in over a dozen Deep Roads expeditions. Are you all ready to face the final test?”

“Ready to win the title, for Lord Harrowmont,” I replied.

“May the ancestors choose wisely.”

The four of us waited by the double doors. From above we heard, “This is a Glory Proving, fought under the eyes of the Paragons of Orzammar to honor the memory of King Aeducan! Only two fighters remain! In this championship round, Piotin Aeducan will be fighting for his cousin, Prince Bhelen. Piotin has won every battle he has fought today! He will face off against our surprising newcomer, the Grey Warden, who has risen from nothing to stand here at the competition’s summit! Today, she battles on behalf of Lord Harrowmont! Each fighter will lead a full unit of three soldiers, for a four-on-four squad combat match. This last battle will determine whom the ancestors favor!”

The doors opened and we all walked out. I looked behind me to see Alistair, Wynne, Leliana, and Shale watching from the box. Alistair blew me a kiss and I grinned back at him. Then I turned to face Piotin and his team.

Piotin nodded at me and said, “You have fought well, Warden, but your judgment is questionable. The throne will never leave House Aeducan!”

I nodded politely in return and calmly replied, “I dedicate my victory to Harrowmont’s triumph.”

“Last team standing will be declared the victor! Fight!”

Sten charged at Piotin, as Zevran went into stealth. Morrigan transformed herself into a giant spider. I shuddered, wishing she had chosen some other form, but shook it off. I had a battle to focus on.

One of Piotin’s men had moved far out of range and started shooting arrows at us. I used my wind spells to knock them off course and started making my way closer to him. Finally, I got close enough and used a light whirlwind spell to pin him to the ground.

Morrigan had trapped one of the other men in a web and it was clear he was not happy about it. He thrashed around wildly, tearing at the webs frantically. But for all his effort, Morrigan’s spider form just shot out more until the dwarf could no longer move.

Zevran popped out of stealth behind the last dwarf and delivered a hard kick to the back of his leg, sending him sprawling to the ground. Zev poked his daggers gently at the dwarf’s exposed back. He slapped the ground, signaling his surrender.

Piotin and Sten, meanwhile, were matching blow for blow against each other. Morrigan changed back to herself and came to stand next to me. Zev soon ran over to join us. I knew Sten would not want any magical aid, so we held back and watched as the muscular dwarf held his own against Sten.

Piotin jumped back to avoid a mighty swing of Sten’s sword and noticed the three of us watching, but with spells and daggers ready and waiting. He realized at that moment that his team had been defeated and that he wouldn’t be able to defend against us all. He quickly dropped to his knee and placed his sword on the ground.

“Bhelen, forgive me,” he muttered. Then he shouted. “I yield!”

“And the victory goes to, The Grey Warden and her team! Congratulations! You have defeated the man that Price Trian once called, ‘The horns of my army’!” The crowd cheered wildly, from the announcer’s box, I heard Leliana give several shrill whistles. The Proving Master continued, “Do any of you deny that this Grey Warden has earned the championship?” No one spoke against me, so the Master finished, “Then it is my honor to declare this Grey Warden and her companions as champions of this Proving, showing that the ancestors favor Lord Harrowmont!”

I bowed and then announced loud and clear, “May the Assembly heed the ancestors and choose Lord Harrowmont!”

“The ancestors speak through you. Congratulations, Warden!” We all bowed and then the four of us left the arena floor, where the Proving Master greeted us.

“Very, very impressive Warden! It’s not often that we get someone like you who rises through the ranks of a Proving so quickly. You fought with skill, dedication, and determination.” He chuckled. “This is one Proving that we will be talking about for years to come.”

I bowed, then turned to my friends. “I suppose we should head back to Tapsters. That is where Dulin was to meet us.”

“So thrilled to wander back into the realm of dwarven vomit and piss…” Morrigan muttered.

 

We walked back into Tapsters and found a table towards the back. The surly flame-haired dwarf, Oghren, whom we had briefly seen earlier was at the table next to ours.

He belched loudly and then grumbled, “Hey, I heard about you, Grey Wardens, comin’ from the surface, great crisis in the world. Heard people sayin’ how you’ve thrown yourself on Harrowmont’s wagon train. I figured you’d be the one, you know, who could help me find Branka. But I guess you’re just like all the rest…”

“All the rest of whom?” I asked curiously.

“Soddin’ power-hungry deep lords. The only real concern they have is whose ass gets the throne. Well, you don’t have to play dumb, Warden. Their lackeys only come to me when they want somethin’. If you want the secrets of a Paragon, do the work and find her.”

“I don’t understand. Why do I need to find Branka? And I haven’t even spoken to Harrowmont yet.”

Oghren droned on. “Branka is the city’s only **living** Paragon. And everyone comes to me askin’ bout her secrets… as if I know ‘em. I didn’t bloody go with her, did I? She’s been lost in the Deep Roads for two years. Two years and no one is this shithole city has bothered to raise a bleedin’ army to go and look for her! So you just go runnin’ back to Harrowmont and tell him…”

“I told you, I haven’t even seen, let alone spoken to Harrowmont yet!”

“Well, I know he’s after her secrets… jus’ like Bhelen and all them other deshyrs. They all come to ol’ Oghren… always askin’, always proddin’. They all want the blessin’ from the ancients’ technology! But they never tell me why they want it, other than they’re probably figurin’ it might get either one of ‘em the crown! The all hound me but still treat me as if I am just a big nobody. Well, I jus’ happen to be married to the bitch… and even though I’m stuck here, I know what she was lookin’ for!”

“What ancient technology?”

Oghren’s eyes narrowed. “You **are** lookin’ for it! Of course, that’s all anyone cares about!” He gave me a very rude gesture. “Well, sod off and sod your mother too! I need another bloody drink…” He got up, muttering as he headed back to the bar, “Until your ‘boss’ really commits to lookin’, you aren’t gettin’ shit outta me…”

“Well now, wasn’t he a pleasant fellow,” Alistair muttered sarcastically.

Dulin Forender finally found us and walked over. We were watching Oghren demanding another drink from the barkeep. “Was Oghren pestering you all?” he asked.

“No, not really. He was just saying a bunch of stuff that didn’t make a lot of sense.”

“I see.” He cleared his throat and then said, “I heard your performance in the Proving was absolutely incredible. I must also thank you for bringing both Baizyl and Gwiddon back into the fight as well. Harrowmont was very impressed at your dedication.”

“So will we be able to see him now?” I asked.

“Yes, he actually sent me here to get you. If you will follow me, we’ll head over to his estate now.”

 

After a short walk from the Commons to the Diamond quarter, we entered the estate of Pyral Harrowmont. Dulin opened the double doors to the study and we saw Harrowmont standing before something that looked like a fireplace, but upon closer inspection, I saw it was some kind of lava-filled device. The only thing keeping out the massive amount of heat was a very thick and decorated type of glass. Fans actually kept the room at a comfortable temperature.

I was so busy trying to figure out how the glass wasn’t melting in front of the lava… art? Light source? Heater? (What **was** its purpose?) …that I almost didn’t hear Harrowmont speak. I quickly shook my head and turned to pay attention to Harrowmont.

“Wardens, I appreciate what you have done for me and I apologize for putting you all through such trials. I also thank you for your efforts to help me preserve King Endrin’s throne.”

“If I may ask, why did the King nominate you over his son?” Alistair asked.

“I do not know if you are aware of the whole story, but Bhelen is the youngest of three…”

“Yes, actually I head some of it from Nerav Helmi,” I answered.

“Oh? What did she tell you?”

“She said that Trian was the eldest, and Sebestyan was the middle child. She believes that Bhelen somehow murdered Trian, but framed Sebestyan for it. Because of that, Sebestyan was exiled to the Deep Roads about a month ago. No one has seen or heard from him since.” **13**

“Yes, it was an unfortunate circumstance for Sebestyan. He just happened to have stumbled across Trian’s corpse, when Bhelen, his guards, and some deshyrs found him there. The King, myself, and other deshyrs knew there was no actual proof that tied Bhelen to the murder, but I always found it suspicious that he knew exactly where to look.”

“’Tis strange, this. How do you know that this… Sebestyan was not the real murderer?” Morrigan asked bluntly.

Harrowmont sighed. “Endrin loved all of his sons too much to voice his suspicions about Bhelen, but he was all too aware of Bhelen’s lust for power. Sebestyan and Trian had their problems, but I knew the lad very well. Sebestyan was not the murderer. At his ‘trial’ he told us that he and his guards were ambushed by some of Bhelen’s men. They killed all of Sebestyan’s guards, save for his second. Sebestyan and his second ran back when they realized the trap Bhelen had set. That was when they found Trian… dead.”

Wynne spoke next. “Why is Bhelen planting all of these rumors that you are trying to usurp the throne from him?”

“Bhelen resents me because I didn’t believe his set-up. I wanted a full investigation – a real trial for Sebestyan – not the knee-jerk reaction he received. There were some, Bhelen’s supporters mostly, that called for Sebestyan’s immediate death, but the vote ended up sending him to the Deep Roads in exile.”

“Is there a chance that Sebestyan may still be alive?” she then asked.

Harrowmont shook his head. “I don’t believe so. When exiled, Sebestyan had no food, no armor, and no weapons. Even if he somehow managed to find any discarded items, his chances of survival would have been very, very slim. It has also been about a month. No, he is likely dead now.”

“But Oghren believes that Branka is still alive in the Deep Roads… and she has been there for two years, right?” Alistair commented.

“Yes, but Branka went willingly, fully armed, and with over two hundred others of her house,” Harrowmont replied. “But even with those odds, I am not sure that even she is still alive after so long – despite what Oghren thinks.”

Shale surprised me by asking, “Why does the Harrowmont think he will be a better king that the prince?”

Harrowmont looked up at the golem in shock, as if he just realized that Shale was there. “I, ah…” He coughed gently to clear his throat, then said, “It speaks poorly of Bhelen that Endrin was the first to think that his own son should not be trusted. I myself, have never sought the throne. My role was to serve Endrin, first as his advisor, then as an elected deshyr in the Assembly. There has never been a Harrowmont as King before. I always assumed that Trian would rule after his father.” He closed his eyes briefly in sorrow, then looked at all of us again. “After we returned Trian to the stone, Endrin and my colleagues asked me to step up… and I will not back down when Orzammar needs me.”

Harrowmont’s answer seemed to satisfy Shale’s curiosity.

“Will you be able to give us support to battle the Blight?”

Harrowmont was silent for a moment, then said, “For us, the darkspawn are a constant menace, so a Blight may not elicit the same urgency you are used to. Ultimately the Assembly decides what troops to send. If they no longer fear civil war, they’ll have no reason to hold back.”

I was a little confused. “The Assembly has more power than the King?”

“The Assembly represents the voices of the wisest, most noble families,” Harrowmont explained. “While we need a single King to preside over important functions and lead us in battle, the Assembly better represents all in Orzammar.”

I nodded, then asked, “So, what now?”

“If you want my support to count, I will need to be King… and right now there is no sure way to get there.” He turned to stare at the lava-doohicky for a moment, then said slowly, “Have you heard of a woman named Jarvia and the criminal carta she runs out of Dust Town?”

I started to shake my head, but Leliana spoke up. “Yes, actually. When we were in the Commons earlier… was that yesterday, Morrigan? I can’t remember.” Morrigan shrugged. “We saw a group of thugs trying to shake down a merchant for ‘protection gold’. We ended up running them off… or should I say, Sten’s glower ran them off?” She laughed lightly while Sten grunted. “Once they were gone, the merchant told us about Jarvia.”

“So you want us to take care of this… Jarvia for you?” I said slowly, “Then you take the credit?” I didn’t mean to come across so harsh-sounding, but I was very tired from the Provings, and this was dragging out far longer than I was expecting.

“No, I wouldn’t ‘take the credit’, but the Assembly receives pleas every day from the common folk – like the merchant you spoke to – begging that something be done about her. So far, no one has managed. Jarvia hides her base in Dust Town, the raw edges of the city where no one lives except the casteless and criminals.” Harrowmont walked over to his desk and looked at some papers, then back at us. “If you would help me in this, it would show the Assembly that I, and not Bhelen, have the ability to rule and defend this city. I promise you then, if I get the throne, I will not stop until the Assembly sends your troops.”

I stifled a yawn. “Do you mind if we take care of Jarvia later? I’d say in the morning, but I have no idea what time it is right now. I just really need to rest after all those Proving battles…”

“Yes, of course, I am sorry. It has been a long and trying day for you all. My butler, Daral will show you all to the guest rooms here.”

Daral bowed and said, “Follow me then, if you please.”

 

First, Daral showed the guest room for then men to use. Zevran smiled gratefully and he and Sten went inside and shut the door. At first, Daral was a little confused as to why Alistair didn’t join them. Alistair just smiled and put his arm around my waist. Daral then nodded with understanding.

He then took the women to a slightly larger guest room. Wynne and Leliana thanked him. Morrigan nodded politely.

“I would have preferred my own quarters, but I am tired… and any bed will be most welcome right now.” She yawned then turned to us with a small smile. “Goodnight Kylara… and Alistair. Sleep well.”

After the door was shut, Alistair turned to me and asked with a grin, “Who was that, who just said goodnight to us in a pleasant voice?” He chuckled. “Has Morrigan been possessed by a ‘nice’ demon?”

I had to admit that I was a bit surprised too. “Well, it is much better than the two of you fighting like you did in the beginning. I hope it lasts.”

“You know, I kind of hope so too,” he whispered back to me and gave me a quick kiss.

Daral wasn’t sure what to do with Shale. But Shale solved the problem himself. “The butler does not need to accommodate me. I do not sleep. I will wait at the main entrance to the Harrowmont’s home.”

Daral nodded nervously as Shale walked off, leaving just Alistair and me. Daral then continued down the hall and opened a set of double doors to a very large and luxurious guest room. Alistair and I were blown away.

“This room is only used for very important guests of the Lord. Since you wanted to stay together, I figured this would suit you better.” He bowed. “Sleep well, Wardens.” Then he shut the door, leaving us alone.

“Wow! This room is amazing!” I breathed. There was a huge bed in the corner, very expensive-looking rugs and furniture, and a huge crystal light source in the center of the room. Another one of those strange lava-doohicky things was next to the bed, its strange orange glow somehow soothing. In the opposite corner from the bed was a tub and then a more shallow basin with a drain. Above it was a pipe coming out of the wall with a strange-looking bell-shaped device at the end of the pipe. Below the pipe was a knob, also attached to the wall.

“What is this?” I asked as I walked over to it.

“I think they call it a ‘shower’. The palace in Denerim has a few of them. Arl Eamon took me there once to meet… my half-brother, although we were not introduced to each other as such. The room that the arl and I stayed in that night had one of these, I am pretty sure.”

I twisted the knob and water steamed out of the pipe, falling like rain. “A shower?” I said slowly as I watched the water. “An appropriate name, I guess.” I twisted the knob in the other direction, shutting off the flow.

Alistair came up behind me and gave me a backwards hug. “Anyways, I need to run a quick errand if you don’t mind, love. Get comfortable… and I will be back real soon.”

“Where are you going? Surely it is too late out.”

“The person I am going to speak to said he would be there. Don’t worry. I won’t be long at all. I promise.”

“Why can’t I just come with you?”

He gave me a mysterious smile. “Just… stay here.” He pointed to the shower. “Try the shower out. Relax.” He then blew me a kiss and ran out of the door quickly.

I was still perplexed by Alistair’s strange mystery errand, but I had to admit that this “shower” device did intrigue me. I removed my sweaty robe and hung it up to air out. My boots I lay on the floor near my staff. Then I went to my pack and retrieved both bars of soap that I had bought back in Rainesfere. I unwrapped my rose-scented one and took it to the shower with me.

I twisted the knob again, starting the water. I took off my underclothes and rinsed them off in the water. Then I lathered the soap bar in my hands and scrubbed my clothes clean. I rinsed them, then lay them on the edge of the nearby tub to drip-dry. That finished, I then stepped under the water flow.

Heavenly! The hot water melted away the tension in my neck, shoulder, and back. It felt almost as good as the massage Alistair had given to me earlier. I lathered more of my rose soap in my hands and scrubbed my body and hair clean and then rinsed off. Turning the knob to shut the water off, I saw a shelf nearby that had some fluffy fleece towels on it. I grabbed one and pat myself dry, then wrapped it around my body. I set my slippery soap bar on the edge of the tub to dry out along with my undergarments.

I then went to the bed in the room and sat on the edge. _Hope it isn’t another stone bed,_ I thought. But to my utter delight, I sank into a very soft mattress. Oh, sleep tonight was going to feel so good! But I decided to wait for Alistair to return. So I sat there on the edge of the bed, wrapped in my towel, and finger-combed my hair out while I waited.

A few moments later, the door opened and Alistair returned with a grin on his face. “Aww… Did I miss you in the shower? Oh well. You’ll at least get to watch me, right?” His grin got even larger as he said, “Your eyes are glowing quite brightly… I think my love likes the idea, yes?”

I blushed furiously. “I, ah… bought you some soap while in Rainesfere. It’s in that wrapped cloth over there.

As he headed over in the direction I had indicated, he set his own little, wrapped parcel on a nearby table. I was very curious about it but figured he’d tell me what it was soon enough. He picked up the cloth-wrapped soap and sniffed. “Oh, that is quite nice! I will enjoy it. Thank you.” He placed it back down and began to remove his armor. Carefully and slowly removing each piece, he then lay them on the floor in a neat pile. Then he removed his padded shirt and leggings. Giving a brief sniff, his nose wrinkled. “Think I need to wash these out too… But that can wait.” He dropped them on the edge of the tub.

With only his braies on, he walked back to the table and grabbed his mystery package, then sat next to me on the bed. “I thought I should probably give this to you now,” he said with a sly smile, “because I have a feeling that we might be a little… busy… after I am done with the shower.”

“You think so, hmm?”

“Love, I am **very** certain of it,” he murmured huskily. Then he pulled away and cleared his throat. “But before I get myself all worked up here and now,” he handed me the package, “go on and open it.”

I took the small wrapped parcel, shook it, and held it to my ear. “It’s a miniature pony. Right?!”

He smiled gently, “No… it is something far more important.”

Realizing he was being serious, I opened the package very carefully. Inside the paper were two similar necklaces. I gasped in surprise when I realized that at the end of each chain was a piece of the crystal from the rock that my magic had transformed. On the silver chain was a blue crystal that had a touch of gold at the bottom. The crystal itself was fused to a small bit of metal and then attached to the chain making it look like the crystal was floating. The gold chain had golden wire wrapped around a crystal that almost looked silver, but there were hints of gold striated throughout. 

He plucked the one with the silver chain and bluish crystal out and bade me turn around. He then looped it around my neck and fastened the clasp. It hung just below my Grey Warden amulet. He then took the gold chain, with its crystal, and clipped it onto his own neck. 

Tears formed in my eyes, and then ran down my cheeks as I looked down at my own necklace. “How? When?”

He gently wiped away my tears. “When is easy. I took a small dagger with me the morning before we left the lake and chipped off a few pieces of the crystal before sliding the rock halves into the lake. As for how? When you were off talking to the citizens of Orzammar, I found a master jewelcrafter in the Commons. I wanted to have the crystals examined, but without someone asking too many questions. I also wanted something made for each of us to remember the deep bond that we created that night.”

I marveled at how necklaces both sparkled in the light. His matched his molten gold eyes perfectly. I wished I had a mirror to see if my necklace matched my eyes too, but for now, I was just content to stare at the crystal. “Y-you said you had them examined? Did the jewelcrafter find out anything?”

“He was just as baffled by them as we had been when we found them, but he said that they seemed to share some similar properties to lyrium crystals. The good news is that they seem to not have any of the negative side-effects that come with too much exposure to lyrium. They definitely have some type of magical properties, but since he doesn’t know magic, he wasn’t sure what kind.”

“They are so lovely. Thank you.”

“I love you, Kylara. I always will.”

I leaned over and kissed him. “I love you too, Alistair.”

He gave me a quick kiss back. “Shower…”

I nodded and he got up and quickly hopped into it. It was like a slow torture for me, watching the love of my life lather his strong and sculpted body with the soap I had bought, especially when he slowly washed his cock with long and sure strokes. But finally, he rinsed off, draped his clean braies on the side of the tub next to my own underclothes.

He shook his head, wolf-like, to remove the excess water and then hopped out. He didn’t bother with a towel; he just came straight towards me, very much eager and ready.

I lay back on the super-soft mattress, only clad in the fleece towel and my beautiful new necklace. He got to the edge of the bed and slowly began crawling towards me, his golden eyes devouring me hungrily. I squirmed under that burning gaze and I could feel myself growing wet with anticipation.

With his own necklace glinting and swaying, he finally got to where I lay. He lowered himself down and used his teeth to grip the towel I was wearing. He pulled it off of me gently and inhaled deeply.

“Roses. You bought yourself a rose soap. So lovely…” Then slowly took one of my nipples into his mouth. He sucked it deep inside at first, then slowly released it, and lapped at it with his very talented tongue. He moved to my other breast, nipping it very lightly.

My back arched off of the bed and my hand reached down to touch myself.

“Ah, ah…” Alistair murmured as he stopped me from going any further. “That is my job, love.” He took my fingers and sucked on them, the placed my hand back on the bed.

“Can’t help it,” I moaned. “You make me feel so good… But you are still too far away for me to do anything back…”

“Mmm, I see.” His glowing eyes twinkled. “You have something in mind then?”

Now I gave a sly grin. “Maybe…”

“I know that look. All right, what do you want me to do?”

“Would you lay on your back?”

“Hmm, not that I object, but I also don’t want you having all of the fun, either,” he teased. He moved further up the bed and then lay down.

I got up then onto my hands and knees and moved down the bed just a bit. Then I leaned over his muscular chest. I exhaled my warm breath, watching as it slightly ruffled his chest hair. I slowly rubbed my face against it. “I love that soap I bought you as well…” I sighed. “You smell good enough to eat.”

He groaned. “Do I now? Well, I hope that – Oh!” he cried out when my teeth gently grazed his nipple. I then flicked my tongue back and forth across it, causing **his** back to arch up off of the bed.

“Seems you are quite sensitive there, hmm?” I purred. I then trailed my tongue across his chest to his other nipple, nipping and teasing it as well.

“Had… no idea!” he panted, fisting the sheets in his hands, apparently to prevent himself from grabbing his cock. “Feels… so damn good!”

I then began slowly kissing my way down to his stomach, pausing briefly to dip my tongue in his navel. Then I very gently kissed the tip of his cock.

He hissed in another breath as I looked up, my eyes meeting his. Then in a move that surprised him, I flipped myself over and straddled his body, my head still facing his cock.

“Sweet Maker!” he cried out as I gripped his shaft firmly and took it deep into my mouth. I had to admit it felt a bit unusual to take him upside-down like this, but then all thoughts ceased as pulled himself up and began desperately licking and devouring my sex.

I moaned loudly, almost collapsing on top of him from the sheer pleasure. Trying to keep my balance, I began moving my hand on his cock again. I swirled my tongue around the crown and very gently scraped my teeth along the very tip. Now I felt him pause and groan.

So it went. Back and forth between us; drawing out each other’s pleasure. He’d bring me close to the edge and then I’d do the same to him… until he decided to up the stakes and started thrusting his tongue deep inside me while rubbing my clit.

I nearly jumped out of my skin, it felt so good! I almost wanted to let him finish what he'd started, but I had other plans. Reluctantly, I pulled away from his ministrations, twisted my self around to face him, and slowly started rubbing myself along his length.

“Minx,” I heard him growl. “Stop teasing me…”

“You don’t… like this?” I whispered breathlessly.

“Oh, I do like it. But you know I want more than just that.” He lightly pinched my nipples, making me cry out.

I slowed down and adjusted my position, slowly taking him into me – but only just the very tip. He tried to thrust up, but I held myself in such a way that he was unable to get in any further. He groaned in frustration.

“How do you want me?” I cooed teasingly. “Slow and sensual? Hard and fast? Do you want to make love to me, or do you want to…” I leaned down as close to his ear as I could manage, “fuck me?”

His golden eyes practically rolled back at that. “All!” he panted. “I want to do all of that! Especially the last one…”

“Can you say it for me, Alistair?” I moved down his length and then back to the tip. “I love hearing you say that word to me. Maker knows why, but it gets me so… aroused to hear it from you!” I began moving again, taking him as deep as I could.

“Kylara, my love, my life… You know I will do anything for you.”

With his hands on my hips, he guided me as I rode him. I moved slowly at first, enjoying how he filled me so completely with every stroke. Alistair suddenly released my hips and pulled me down to him. Our necklaces clicked together as he began kissing me deeply. At the same time, he adjusted his position, then began snapping his hips up, plunging himself into me in a hard, but steady rhythm.

“You feel… so fucking amazing,” he murmured. When I moaned at that, he chuckled lightly. “You are liking our bedplay on the naughty side.” He then smacked my right ass cheek, drawing another long, wanton cry from me. “I think I like it too…” He gave me another, slightly harder smack.

“A-Alistair!” I cried out. My magic exploded within me and I felt like I was flying. “More, please!” I begged.

He suddenly rolled over in a quick acrobatic move, pinning me beneath him. He kissed me hard and deep, pulling out and thrusting back in over and over.

My hands gripped his ass, feeling those strong muscles flexing under my palms. When I dug my nails in, I heard him growl in satisfaction. “More?”

“Yes! Maker! I’m so close!”

“Good,” he said. But instead of finishing me then and there, He suddenly surprised me by pulling all the way out. I cried at the loss, but then he rumbled, “Turn over.”

I did as he asked and rolled over onto my stomach. He got up onto his knees and then pulled my hips up. As he rubbed his finger against my clit, keeping me on that razor’s edge, he then slowly said, “My love… I want to fuck you now.”

“Yes, I want that! I need you to fuck me! Please, Alistair! Now!”

With that, he pushed his cock back inside of me with a hard thrust. He gripped my hips and though he started off slowly, he quickly increased his tempo until was pounding into me as hard as he could.

“Not going to… last much longer! Maker, I’m about to come!”

I reached under and quickly rubbed my clit to finish myself. I cried out as my orgasm hit. “Come now, Alistair!”

Once he felt it, he bellowed, “Oh, Maker… Fuck!! Coming… so hard!” He continued thrusting as he came, pushing me over the edge again and again.

My magic was now burning so brightly, I knew if I didn’t do something with it, there would be an even worse backlash than the quake I had caused earlier. I quickly gripped the crystal in my fist and focused, even as a fourth orgasm hit me. It seemed to work. As I slowly came back to myself, I could almost feel the crystal vibrating as I filled it.

Finally, I collapsed fully onto the bed, Alistair right behind me. He was still panting heavily. I slowly wriggled out from beneath his sprawled out form and rolled onto my side, facing him.

I stroked his cheek softly. “Are you okay?”

He groaned slightly and mumbled, “Maker’s Breath! That was… intense. Don’t think I’m going to be able to walk for a while.” He rolled over onto his hip and then asked, “How about you, love? Are you all right?”

“I think I’m in that same ‘no walking’ boat as you.”

He chuckled for a moment, but then asked carefully, “I… didn’t hurt you? I didn’t mean to get so carried away.”

“I think I’ll be a bit sore… but only in the most delicious places,” I replied with a smile.

He grinned at that. “I think a marathon session like what we just did is going to have to be an occasional thing.”

“Like our first night together was?”

He groaned again, remembering. “Maker… how many times did we do it that night?”

“Six, I think?”

We both burst into laughter. Then he said, “Thank goodness for the legendary Grey Warden stamina, right?”

“Oh, yeah…” I grinned and laughed again. Then I noticed something. “You…”

His own laughter died down. “What?”

“Why are you clutching your necklace?”

“Actually, I was about to ask you the same,” he said.

Together, we slowly opened our hands. The bright glow coming from both crystals stunned us both into silence for a few moments. Finally, Alistair said what we were both apparently thinking. “Wow.” He then looked at me and asked, “Your magic?”

I nodded. “I… didn’t want to have the same situation as we had earlier at the Proving. So I focused my power into the crystal. I… had no idea why I thought it would work, but it obviously did.” I brushed my finger against it and felt the charge. “It… seems to be holding onto it.” I then looked at his own golden crystal. “What about yours?”

“I…” He hesitated for a moment, as if unsure how to answer. “When we were both – I just felt so much energy flowing between us. I don’t know why I grabbed the crystal. I just acted on instinct. But I guess it is doing the same thing that yours is. Only mine seems to be holding energy, rather than magic.”

“There is truly a mysterious power in them,” I said softly. The glow of both crystals faded until they looked as they had when he first gave me the necklace. I knew, however, that the energy and magic they held wasn’t gone. Somehow, I knew that if he or I needed it, all we would have to do was call on it and it would be there. “I don’t know how we are going to be able to test these without the others noticing…”

“Mine will be easier to hide, as it will be under my armor,” he said thoughtfully. “Perhaps the jeweler has a longer chain you can use and it can rest it in between your breasts?”

“That could cause other problems. No, I’ll just keep it the way it is. If they ask, it’s just a pretty necklace you bought for me. I can cover it with my hand if it starts to glow.” I sighed. “But eventually, someone is going to notice. Hopefully, when that happens, we will have a better understanding of them. Right now, we have more questions than answers.”

“Right now, I think we both need to stop thinking and get some sleep,” Alistair said with a yawn. “Time is completely crazy down here. I don’t know when Harrowmont expects us to go after this Jarvia, but neither one of us will be able to anything at this moment in time.”

I yawned too. “Never thought I’d miss the sun so much…”

“Me too.” Alistair leaned into me and gently kissed me. “Goodnight, my love.”

“Night, Alibear,” I whispered. I reached down and pulled a light blanket over us and soon we were both sound asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 13 I should have covered this on the last chapter when I had Kylara talk to Nerav Helmi… The game dialogue says that Trian died “a year ago”, but that timeline presented does not work for me. because if you play as a dwarven noble (aka the 2nd son… or daughter), you’d be (roughly) on the same timeline as Kylara, who has been traveling for approx two months now. Even if you do Orzammar as your last treaty quest, that wouldn’t be a year yet. For those who have not played this game (my friends and family), the events of the whole game span one year… from the time you are recruited by Duncan, to the end battle… that is one year. Also, at the city gates, the guard mentions that King Endrin died three weeks ago… so it made more sense in my story to have Trian die a little over a month prior, and the 2nd son (I named him Sebestyan) getting exiled shortly after, causing the King to die from heartbreak.


	23. Dust Town and The Deep Roads (part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylara, Alistair, Zevran, and Shale venture into the slums of Orzammar to help Harrowmont... and later the whole group begin their journey into the Deep Roads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very Good Morning, gorgeous art piece by the amazing Ember! (http://out-of-the-embers.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Adorable Art of Dagna kindly borrowed with permission by ParadoxHorizon - https://www.deviantart.com/paradoxhorizon  
> (https://www.deviantart.com/paradoxhorizon/gallery/55342504/Fan-Art)

By the time we heard the knocking on our guest room door, Alistair and I had already been awake for some time. Somehow I knew that we hadn’t slept very long, yet both of us were feeling very well-rested. I was lying on top of Alistair. As we kissed each contentedly, our crystal necklaces glowed softly in the dark room.

The knocking got a bit more urgent and Alistair groaned at the interruption.

“I’ll go get it,” I said softly and kissed the tip of his nose. I then got up and wrapped the blanket around my body.

Alistair managed to find the fleece towel I had used last night and draped it across his midsection, but when he noted that it showed his obvious arousal, he flipped onto his side and readjusted the towel. Giving me a sheepish grin, he then indicated I could open the door.

Quickly checking that my necklace was no longer glowing, I then opened the door to find Zevran standing there.

“Well, good morning, my vision of loveliness.” He peeked around me to see Alistair trying to look casual while lying on the bed. “Hope I didn’t… disturb… anything important?” He grinned.

“Well… ah, yes and no,” I replied softly.

“I see,” Zevran chuckled and his eyes twinkled merrily. “May I come in, please?”

I glanced back at Alistair. He shrugged. So I turned back to Zev and opened the door wider.

“Thank you,” he said. He came in and sat down in the closest chair. Then he casually leaned back in the chair and propped his feet on the table.

I sat on the edge of the bed. “So, what can we do for you?” I asked, then immediately regretted that statement when I saw undisguised interest in Zevran’s eyes. He smiled, however, and laughed it off.

“Aside from what I’d really love to do with the both of you at this moment, I came to tell you that I overheard Harrowmont talking with Dulin earlier this morning. It seems that he is worried that Bhelen’s men are going to stop Jarvia before we do. He almost sounded as if he thought we were not going to do our job.”

“How did you manage to get that information?” I asked.

“While Leliana may be the ‘spy’ of our group, I am not without my own skills when it comes to finding out matters of importance.”

“I see. Well then, it seems we need to get ourselves ready and take care of it,” Alistair said.

“That is why I came here, to you both.” Zevran winked at us, but then said in a more serious tone, “I think we need to get just one other and the four of us take care of it before too much times passes. If we wait for the whole group, we might miss the opportunity.”

“Good point,” I nodded. “We can get ready quickly. Who else is available?”

“Shale is by the entrance, isn’t he?” Alistair pointed out.

“Yes. All right. Zev, let us get ready. Leave a note for Sten and the women and let Shale know what is going on.”

Zev jumped off of the chair and landed softly on his feet. He grabbed the chair before it fell to the ground and set it back upright by the table. “See you both in a bit, then.” He blew us both a kiss, bringing a smile to my face and a blush to Alistair’s. He closed the door softly behind him.

I took the blanket off from my body and put it back on the bed. Naked, I walked over to the tub to retrieve my undergarments, smiling to myself as I heard Alistair sigh. I slipped them on and then brought over Alistair’s braies.

As he put them on, he asked, “Love, can you get my pack? Fortunately, I packed my lighter leather armor as well.”

I did as he asked. While he fished around in his pack to find his other armor, I took my robe down from the rack I had hung it on. It smelled a little better than last night, but it still was not as clean as I would have liked. I was really going to need to find a leatherworker to help freshen my robe better. Hopefully, I could find one here in Orzammar.

Alistair and I quickly got dressed and then grabbed our weapons. We left the room and quietly made our way to the front entrance. Shale and Zevran were both waiting on us.

“Ready to go?” I asked quietly.

Zev nodded, but Shale stopped me. “Where did it get that crystal on its neck?”

_Figures the crystal obsessed golem would be the first to notice…_

Trying to make it seem like it was just an ordinary piece of jewelry, I said, “Alistair bought it for me? Why?”

Shale’s glowing eyes narrowed. “There is… something odd about it, but I cannot place what it is.”

“It is quite beautiful,” Zevran commented. “You have excellent taste in jewelry, friend Alistair.”

“Um, thanks, I guess?”

“Shouldn’t we get going?” I pointed out.

“Yes, yes. Let’s go,” Zevran said.

 

We left Harrowmont’s estate and made our way out of the Diamond Quarter. As we were passing through the Commons, the horn sounded once, indicating dawn on the surface. It was so loud – blasting and reverberating throughout the cave – I felt as if my skull was about to split open. All of us covered our ears, except for Shale. He just looked at us with curiosity and shrugged.

Once the sound had died down, we continued to make our way to the entrance to Dust Town. I saw Brother Burkel getting up from his little camp. He smiled when he saw me and came up to us.

“Andraste teaches that patience is the child of wisdom, but I am eager to hear if you have seen the Shaper?” he asked me.

“He has agreed to let you hold prayer meetings,” I replied.

“Oh, praise the Maker! You truly walk in the light, my friend.” Brother Burkel shook my hand graciously, then said, “I have already found a convert amongst the merchants who offered his shop as a temporary Chantry. It is just by Tapsters. Please, come to our first service this evening!”

I didn’t want to commit to anything, so I said, “I don’t think we will be able to. We do have a lot to still do down here. However, thank you for the kind invitation.”

He nodded. “Perhaps some other time then.”

We set off again, pausing briefly before the entrance Dust Town.

“So, I take it this is where the poor dwarves of the city reside?” Zevran murmured looking down into a much darker and grim section of Orzammar. “Most poor in Antiva find a way to join the Crows. An assassin’s life may not be glamorous, but as long as you do what you are told, you are taken care of.”

“If they took such good care of you, then why you are with us now?” Alistair asked jokingly.

“Entirely different circumstance, friend Alistair. I chose to leave the Crows of my own volition if you remember.”

“Only because you failed so spectacularly at your job of killing us,” I said with a hint of a smile.

“Ouch, dear lady!” Zevran grinned at me. “But then, you couldn’t kill me either…”

“Touché.”

Shale suddenly spoke up. “So here is a question for the painted elf…”

“Painted elf? Oh, that's me! I do like that!” Zevran chuckled. “What can I answer for you then, my stone companion?”

“The painted elf attacked the Grey Wardens, and yet it still lives. Had the decision been mine, its skull would be so much pulp right now.”

“Oh, I don't know. Could you destroy something as pretty as I am, hmm?” Zev batted his eyelashes in an exaggerated fashion.

“Easily,” Shale replied. “I fail to see how any measure of attractiveness would make one difficult to crush.”

Zevran laughed. “Perhaps you do not know how to look, then. Take a long look at Kylara, my good friend. Right there we have an object worthy of worship, no?”

“Oh, please, Zev…” I replied. “I am hardly that!”

“I beg to differ,” Alistair whispered, his breath hot in my ear. “I’ll worship you every chance I get…”

His implied meaning had me shiver with sudden need.

Zev continued on. “And, take our former templar fellow. Rugged good looks, quick wit, manly shoulders. Just getting him to hop borders is a challenge worthy of the great heroes.”

Alistair laughed at that. “A challenge? I'd happily hop borders, given the chance. I've never even been close to leaving Ferelden!”

“One would have to be blind not to realize how very pretty we all are and how important that is to preserve,” Zevran concluded.

Shale shrugged. “Hmph. Perhaps there are definitions of ‘blind’ I have yet to understand.”

We all chuckled at Shale’s response and headed down into Dust Town.

 

Compared to the beauty of the Diamond Quarter and the hustle and bustle of merchants and working-class dwarves of the Commons, Dust Town really made me feel depressed. The lighting was so dim it was hard to see, but what I could glimpse made me want to cry. You could smell the stench of sewage and other really unpleasant odors. Buildings looked war-torn; most damaged beyond repair. Trash and other debris littered what used to be a street. Dwarf beggars – wearing little better than rags – lined the ruined street, or huddled in the broken buildings near small campfires. All looked worn and haggard.

The thought of Bhelen, Harrowmont, and those other nobles in the Diamond Quarter living in the lap of luxury made me feel angry when down here in the bowels of the city it was the complete opposite. Then I felt guilty since I too had had a luxurious shower and a comfortable bed to sleep in last night. Until you were slapped in the face with it, you could easily forget that there were a bunch of dwarves who were considered persona non grata living in this awful part of Orzammar. To make matters worse, each and every one of them had a brand on their right cheek so that no matter what, they couldn’t even come up from this part of town without immediately being noticed for who and what they were.

The Shaperate may call these castes tradition, but it really sickened me to see that these dwarves were treated with such disdain. It didn’t surprise me that many of them would turn to a life of crime. It was no wonder at all that a criminal carta was in charge down here, instead of the city guards.

I felt Alistair give me a gentle squeeze. “I know what you are thinking, love. I know it isn’t fair that there are those that have so much when in this part of the city they have nothing. But unfortunately, that is just the way it is… above ground or below.”

I turned to Alistair. “No, what makes me so livid here is that they mark these dwarves! No matter what, they can’t find a way to get out this life. A poor human can find ways to work themselves out of their situation, should they choose to. But the so-called tradition of this city doesn’t give these casteless a chance to better themselves!”

“Why do the poor not rise up against the other dwarves?” Shale wondered aloud. “Seems like there are a lot more of them than the others.”

“I doubt they could, even if they wanted to,” Alistair replied softly. “No armor, no weapons, malnourished, and possibly sick. Even if they tried, the guards would quickly be able to overwhelm them.”

“Perhaps we should let this Jarvia take over then?” Zevran muttered.

“No,” I said firmly. “Despite my anger at this situation, having a criminal carta in charge would not make things any better down here for these casteless. We will do what we have been asked.” I sighed and then said, “Let’s go.”

We walked down the street, being mindful of where we stepped. All of a sudden, a group of about fifteen armed dwarves stepped out of the shadows ahead of us.

“Well, well… Look at what we have here boys.” The lead dwarf sneered at us. “Vartag was right. Harrowmont did send his new boot-lickers to try and take Jarvia down.” They all drew their weapons. “Hate to break it to you, but we were here first. Bhelen is the rightful King here and we will make sure he takes the throne! Attack!”

As the group of Bhelen supporters moved in on us, Zevran quickly went into stealth. I drew my staff and Alistair his sword. Shale gave a rocky grin and pounded his massive fists together. The narrow street was going to make it difficult for me to cast any area spells, as I didn’t want to accidentally hit any innocents. I instead decided on some of the tactics I had used during the Proving. As Alistair and Shale attacked and defended against those in the front, I turned into a small insect again and flew to the rear of the group, joining Zev, who had reappeared behind the dwarves. His daggers made quick work of two of the attackers.

I reappeared beside Zev, who was surprised by my sudden appearance, but shook it off quickly as another dwarf began attacking him. Alistair and Shale were slowly making headway in the front. I used light shock spells and paralyze on a few of the dwarves in front of me to incapacitate them and to aid my friends.

Eventually, they were all dead. I wished it hadn’t come down to that, but their leader hadn’t even tried to negotiate with us before they attacked. Another downside to the battle in the middle of Dust Town was that most, if not all of the nearby inhabitants had fled the scene.

We needed to find one of the casteless who would be willing to talk with us; to see if any knew how to find Jarvia. However, word must have spread from the battle scene, because where there had once been many dwarves in the street, now there were none to be found.

Suddenly, I heard a baby crying and a mother attempting to hush the child. I tracked the sounds and finally came upon a ruined building where I saw the mother dwarf huddling in fear, holding her baby away from us. I also noticed she didn’t have a casteless brand on her cheek… so what was she doing down here?

I knelt down. “Don’t worry. We will not hurt you.”

“Y-you won’t?”

I shook my head. “I am sorry if the commotion we caused earlier frightened you. We just had to defend ourselves.”

“But I heard you killed them all!” she wailed, causing her baby to start crying again.

“Unfortunately, they did not give us a chance.” I sighed. “I swear we mean you no harm. Is there anything I can do to help you trust us?”

“I-I could use some coin… It’s for my son. He’s sick and he hasn’t any clean clothes to wear. He hasn’t had anything to eat today. N-neither have I.”

I pulled off my pack and carefully and carefully got out ten silver. I then handed it to her carefully.

“T-thank you,” she said and put the coins into the pocket of the tattered dress she was wearing. “That a stranger would care so much when my own family barred me from their halls… Unless I am willing to – ”

“Willing to what?” I asked softly. I saw her cringe. “Please, you can trust me.”

She stayed silent for another moment, cuddling her baby, then slowly said, “My name is Zerlinda. I wasn’t always like this. I was born to a Mining Caste family…”

 _That would explain why she doesn’t have that casteless brand on her face,_ I thought.

Zerlinda continued, “We were not wealthy, but I never went hungry… until now. N-now it is all gone and it is all my fault. Ancestors curse me, but there is nothing I can do to set it right!”

Alistair knelt next to me and asked, “What happened?”

Zerlinda eyed him warily, but when she saw me put my hand gently on his arm, she relaxed a little. “I… fell in love. He seemed so exotic, you know. Tough, smart, and never bowing his head to anyone. But… he was casteless. Now that I think on it, he was just using me to try and father a higher-caste child, so he could petition for status. But our child was a son! Doomed to be casteless like his father! My parents disowned me, stripped my caste from me, and kicked me out of our house… Unless I agree to abandon him in the Deep Roads and pretend I never bore him!” It was then that I got a closer look at her baby and saw that he did have the brand on his cheek. _Maker! They branded an infant only a few weeks old?_

“But if you are Miner Caste, why is your son casteless?” I asked. _I don’t think I’ll ever understand these dwarven politics!_

“In Orzammar, lineage is traced through the child’s same-sex parent. Had my baby been a girl, she would have been a Miner Caste, like I used to be. But as a boy, my son is considered tainted forever… because of his father’s seed.”

“And because of this, your own family wants you to abandon the baby in the Deep Roads?” I was aghast. “This is horrible!”

“The Shaperate teaches that only children of true lineage exist, not those born casteless. But they never carried a child! He cries like any other infant and smiles when he is warm and full. I can’t kill him because of an accident of birth! An accident I forced upon him!”

Alistair glanced at me, then asked, “If your family won’t listen, is there no other solution?”

Zerlinda’s eyes glinted with fire and determination. “Yes, I can become casteless with him, which is what I have done! Others have raised children like this, right? Begging for change, sleeping in doorways…”

“But this is no life for a baby!” I exclaimed. “There is no guarantee of coin on a daily basis… and it’s filthy down here!”

“I will do what I must to keep my child!” Zerlinda cried. “He will not be abandoned!”

“Zerlinda,” I spoke softly, trying to calm her, “I was not suggesting that you abandon your baby. All children are precious!” Tears misted my eyes as I was reminded that I would have none. Alistair saw and gave my hand a gentle squeeze. I quickly wiped away my tears and said, “What I was thinking is… what if you went up to the surface with him?”

She hesitated, then answered, “I-I have thought about that. They say there are no castes up there; that humans don’t care about lineage…”

I saw Alistair briefly look up towards the ceiling, then back down. I knew he was thinking about the upcoming Landsmeet and Eamon announcing him as the new King. I gave him a sympathetic look.

Zerlinda rocked her baby and he began to coo. “It’s just that… before you, I have never met any other surfacers. I’m still not sure it would be safe up there for us. Where would we go? I don’t know anyone up there.”

“There is a dwarf up there with a farm about a days walk from Orzammar,” I said. “I can write her a letter and ask if she can take you and your son in… But for now, I would suggest that you go back up to the Commons. There is a dwarf there by the name of Brother Burkel. He is forming a Chantry here in Orzammar and he can help you and your child until we hear from Brunnhylda.”

“Yes. I have seen this ‘Brother’. At first, I thought he was crazy, trying to change our traditions…” She softly stroked her baby’s head. “But if our traditions are going to make me casteless because of my child, then perhaps his change will be a good thing!” She smiled at me. “Thank you, stranger. I will go to Brother Burkel and then wait to see if you hear from your surface dwarf friend.”

She got up carefully, bowed her head at us, and then headed back towards the Commons with her infant son in her arms.

As I stood up, Zev asked, “You think she’ll be all right on the surface? What if Brunnhylda says no?”

“Then she can stay with the Brother, or choose to come with us and we can find another solution. I’ll let her decide when that time comes. For now, we still need to find someone who knows where Jarvia is hiding.”

 

Eventually, some of the casteless made their way out from wherever they had been hiding but still none were willing to talk once we mentioned Jarvia. She really had the lot of them terrified of her.

I was about to give this up as a lost cause when I head someone call out to us.

“Well, look at that! It’s not often that ol’ Nadezda sees fine-dressed folk like yourselves here in Dust Town. Care to help poor cripple?”

I dug some more silvers our of my pack. “Here is five silver. Go and buy yourself a hot meal.”

She took the silvers, her hand trembling as she put them in her pocket. “You’re as kind as you are beautiful. I’d owe you once I got back on my feet… if my feet still worked, that is.” I then noticed her bare feet were not only dirty but misshapen. “It takes a stranger to notice how bad things are, huh? Noble dwarves too high and mighty, and even them common dwarfs turn their noses up at us. None of ‘em would lift a sodding finger… pardon my language.” She sat back down, her feet obviously paining her. I also saw her knees were also quite swollen, but she cracked a smile and said, “What brings you fine folk outta the Diamond Quarter? You gotta vice you’re looking for ol’ Nadezda to fill?”

I saw Zevran’s eyes light up for a moment and I quickly put my hand on his chest and shook my head. He winked and gave me a half-smile.

“Just some information, if that is all right?”

Nadezda shrugged. “Sure, I don’t mind talkin’ none. What d’ya want to know?”

To break the ice and hopefully make her feel a bit more at ease, I asked, “Can you tell me a little bit more about Dust Town?”

“It’s pretty much as you see it – the raw stone where we casteless live because we aren’t welcome anywhere else. We’re born to wear a branded face in Orzammar and we live out our so-called lives here in Dust Town.” She pointed to her marked cheek. “This things tells them other dwarves not to work with us, not to serve us, and to not give a damn if we are hurt. The deep lords burn it into your skin on the day we’re born and every year it gets done again and again until it turns black with age…”

My thoughts drifted back to Zerlinda’s baby. To think that they had that brand ready and waiting for her baby because they knew the father was casteless! I could picture the whole scenario in my head. Zerlinda exhausted from just having given birth. Her being told her child was a son and those deshyrs immediately branding a newborn infant’s cheek. I could almost hear Zerlinda screaming in my head as they branded her son. The thought made me so nauseous, I wanted to throw up. My only hope for her baby was that if she did manage to get out of Orzammar, the brand might eventually heal and disappear since they would not be able to reapply it year after year.

I was snapped out of my dark thoughts by Nadezda tugging on my robe. “Hey… You okay there? I said something bad?”

“No, Nadezda. Just thinking. Sorry.” I knelt down to be on level with her. “Do you mind my asking how you became crippled?”

She flashed a brief grin and said, “I’d say it was an accident from trying to get sympathy coin…” Her smile then faded. “But I’m guessin’ you’d rather hear the truth.” She sighed. “I was running protection for the carta when some guardsmen caught me. Duster I was with had coin for a bribe, but I took a stand. The guards broke my sodding kneecaps and my feet. Then they had me kneel in dung until infection set in. Never did heal proper after that.”

I saw Alistair and Zevran both cringe at that information. I was furious. I was going to be having some serious words with Harrowmont when I got back. But for the moment, Nadezda had just given me some crucial information.

I dropped my voice low. “You worked for the carta?”

“Aye,” she whispered back. “And let me tell you, it’s far worse now than it was when I was in it. When Jarvia took over about a month ago, she got just about every duster on two legs to bear swords for her. She’s mean. Real mean.”

“Is there a base somewhere down here? Somewhere we can… get in?”

Nadezda quickly glanced around. “They do, but it’s not easy to find. Jarvia’s real paranoid. She’s got her carta members all carrying these… finger-bone tokens. She scratches some mark on them, so she’ll know they came from her. There are doors to her base all over Dust Town, but only one is ever open at a time. If you show up without a token, you’d never even know it was there.”

“Do you know where I can get one of these tokens?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Sorry, but I can’t help you there salroka. Carta members keep them real tight. But… that’s still worth something… right? I don’t suppose you might be able to spare a bit more coin perhaps?”

“Nadezda, may I ask one more thing?” She nodded. “If you could leave Dust Town… what would you do?”

She chuckled. “Well, I ain’t leaving. But, I suppose if I could… I’d want to maybe learn a trade or craft skill. I… have nimble hands, after all. Maybe get married…” She shook her head. “But that’s never going to happen, so why dream it?” I saw her wipe a tear from her eye.

I touched her arm gently. “I have some… abilities, Nadezda. I’d like to try something… with your permission?”

“Dunno what you have in mind, but what’ve I got to lose?”

I stood up. “Zev, Shale, can you please turn around and keep watch? I want to make sure I am not interrupted.” Both shrugged and turned around. “Alistair, I need your help, please.”

He knelt down with me. “What do you have in mind?” he whispered.

I whispered back, “I am going to attempt to heal her and remove her casteless brand.”

“Can you do that?”

“I… don’t know for sure. I want to see what this crystal might be capable of. I don’t think it only stores my excess magic. I am hoping it might amplify my abilities as well.” Then to Nadezda, I asked, “Can you to close your eyes?” She did so.

I closed my eyes as well. I placed one hand on Nadezda’s head and the other clutching the crystal around my neck. Alistair reached under his leather vest and grasped his own crystal and then put his other hand on top of the one holding my crystal. I concentrated hard and felt the crystal warming to my touch. Then I whispered my new spell, “Thoir air falbh am pian agus an fhulangas seo. Leig leis a 'bhean seo a choiseachd. Thoir às a 'bhrand seo. Thoir saorsa ùr dhi. Ach chan urrainn dhi bruidhinn mun tiodhlac seo a bheir mi; tha e na thiodhlac prìobhaideach dhi. Chan urrainn dhi cuimhneachadh air na thachair.” <Remove this pain and suffering. Let this woman walk. Delete this brand. Give her a new freedom. But she can not talk about this gift I give; it is a private gift for her. She can not remember what happened.>

After a few moments, I opened my eyes. Nadezda had a peaceful look on her face. She then opened her eyes, smiled at me, and then got up – her knees and feet completely healed. The brand on her cheek was now gone. She slowly walked towards the Commons.

As Alistair and I got up, Zev turned around and asked. “Where is she going?”

“Someplace better,” was all I said in response.

“But… she was lame. How is it that she is now walking?” Zevran pressed.

I noticed other casteless dwarves looking in our direction also. It seemed that they too had noticed Nadezda’s sudden ability to walk. I realized that if I was going to be experimenting with the crystal and my magic, I was going to have to be much more careful. I quickly closed my eyes again, held the crystal again and whispered, “Na faighnich dè thachair gu dìreach. Chan fhaca thu rud sam bith annasach.” <Do not ask what happened directly. You did not see anything strange.> The casteless dwarves looked away and Zevran shook his head.

“Did something just happen?” he asked.

“No. Now, let’s get going. We need to find a carta member somewhere and get us one of those finger-bone tokens.”

As I walked off, Alistair ran and caught up to me.

“What did you do just now?” he asked quietly.

“I made them forget what they just saw.”

“But why?”

“I don’t know what this crystal and magic are fully capable of. I honestly had no idea if my spell on Nadezda was going to work. I should not have done the spell here in public, so I had to make them forget.”

“But your spell on her did work. Why are you so… afraid?”

“At the Tower, we had always been taught that you can never be too careful when it comes to the Fade. You can’t have all good without some bad, just like there is not all bad without some good. It is a fine balance. This crystal… this is new magic. How it was created, how it seems to be powered. I just need to be very careful… until we know more.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” Alistair mused. “What about Nadezda? Will she remember anything?”

“The way I worded the spell, no. She won’t be able to talk about it and she shouldn’t remember how it happened. Perhaps I shouldn’t have tried something so new on an actual person, but I really wanted to thank her for her help. I am glad it worked, but next time I think we should try something smaller, and in private.”

Alistair nodded. “If you think that is for the best, then I will trust you. I don’t really know magic… other than the few Templar abilities I still have.”

“Then you can help me in that way,” I said slowly.

“What do you mean?”

“If anything I do involving this… new magic… gets carried away, you can use your Templar skills to negate it, right?”

“I don’t know, but I suppose I could,” he replied.

“Good. But let us hope nothing like that will be needed.”

“Agreed.”

Zevran caught up to us. I hadn’t realized that we had gotten so far ahead of him and Shale. “So serious, the two of you. I don’t know why you have been whispering to each other. Not saying anything bad about me, I hope?”

I smiled to lighten the mood. “No Zev, we weren’t talking about you… or Shale,” I said as he thumped up to us. “Just something private between me and Alistair.”

“Ah, planning your next rendezvous?” Zev laughed. “Say no more, my friends. I completely understand. But until then, let us focus on our task at hand, yes?”

“You’re right, Zev. Let’s go.”

 

I was really getting frustrated. Even with all of the information Nadezda had given us about the carta, we were back to square one in trying to find the entrance to Jarvia’s base.

I heard the horn blast two times, indicating it was now lunchtime. I pulled some travel rations out of my pack and handed them to Alistair and Zevran. We sat on a broken wall and nibbled on our food. I saw a lot of casteless looking at us, hunger clear on their faces and I wished I had enough to share. As it was, I ended up giving half of my rations to two small casteless children who had wandered close to us.

I was just getting ready to tell my friends that I was ready to give up when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a rather shady-looking dwarf looking around carefully. He ducked quickly inside a nearby building. I nudged Alistair.

“What?” he asked.

“I want to check out that building over there,” I said and pointed to the door. “I just saw someone go in there.”

Zevran gave a bored sigh. “So?”

“He was looking around very carefully before he went in. Besides, what could it hurt? We’ve got no other leads at this time.” I pointed out.

“Probably just a waste of our time…” Zev muttered.

“If it is, then I promise we can leave right after. But I’d hate to not check it and later find out it was important.”

He dusted the crumbs off of his armor. “Very well. Shall we go then?”

We all got up and quietly walked over to the mystery door. There didn’t seem to be anything unusual about it or the building, but I held my staff ready. Checking with Alistair, I saw him nod, his sword drawn. I opened the door and we walked into the building.

It was dark inside, so I summoned my glowing orb and tossed it up. We were immediately surrounded by a bunch of casteless dwarves, all with weapons in their hands.

“Well, look what we have here.” The dwarf who I had seen entering the building was the one who spoke. “Jarvia said you all were looking for trouble.” He chuckled cruelly. “Congratulations, you found it.”

All at once they began attacking us. I shape-shifted into a dire wolf and jumped onto the nearest carta member pinning him to the floor. Zev grinned and began attacking in earnest. Shale was pounding another carta member against the wall, while Alistair was attacking the leader of the group.

Soon there were all dead except for the leader. Alistair had him pinned up against the wall with his shield and he was bleeding from a gash above his eye.

“D-don’t kill me!” he begged. “Sodding ancestors! What do they teach you all on the surface?! You fight like a bleedin’ archdemon!” He glanced at all of his fallen comrades. “Sweet bloody stone! Look at ‘em all!”

I changed back and glared at him. “Tell me how to find Jarvia, or you join them!”

“T-the base is below the city. You can get to it through the wall of the third house on this row. Put this token through the slot and it’ll open!”

I took the finger-bone token from him. “This will work?”

“Y-yes, I swear! Will you let me go now?”

“Not until we verify that this does actually work. It the door opens for us, I’ll let you go, but I don’t want to see hide nor hair of you afterwards, or you will regret it.”

“Anything you say, lady.”

We then left the building and the carta leader showed us the false door. There was indeed a small hole there. I stuck the token in the opening and heard a click. The door opened. I turned back to the thug. “All right, I’ll keep my word. You may go. But don’t you dare find any way to get down there and warn Jarvia. Understand?”

“R-really? Oh, thank you! You’re a… good human. Thank you!” He ran off.

“Was that truly wise?” Zevran asked.

“If he does betray us, I give you permission to make his death extra painful.”

Zev grinned. “As my lady commands…”

 

We went into the new building and down a long flight of crudely carved stone stairs. At the bottom, the room opened up into a natural cavern. There were torches stuck in the walls at random intervals. We followed their light, eventually coming to another door. All of us (except for Shale, who just flexed his stone fingers) got our weapons ready again.

Once we entered the door, there was a large group of carta members lounging around in a rectangular room. One of them stopped us and in a bored sounding tone, asked, “What’s the password?”

I looked over at my friends and smiled. “What was that password again? Jarvia is…”

Alistair snickered. “A mewling fool-born nug-humper?”

“An idiot?” Zevran piped up.

“Dumb as a rock?” Shale remarked.

“Oh, wait… I remember now!” I said with a laugh. “Jarvia sucks lizard eggs!”

The dwarf scowled. “I see we got us a bunch of comedians here. Dead comedians.” He shouted to the group behind him. “Kill them!”

Surprisingly this group of carta members were fairly easy to defeat. Then I discovered why. There were several casks of ale that had been recently emptied. Jarvia probably would be furious that her guards were drinking on the job... but if it made it easier on us, I certainly wasn’t going to complain.

In the back of the room, there was another door. It lead to another natural cavern. We quietly proceeded forward until Zevran stopped us.

“I see a tripwire trap up ahead. Let me take care of that, yes?” I nodded and Zev went into stealth. Within moments the trap was disabled. He came back up to us. Still in stealth, he whispered. “There are a few men up ahead on the right. Beyond them is a door which probably has more carta inside. There was also a door on the left down a short tunnel. Most likely also full of enemies. What do you want us to do?”

“Can you jimmy the door on the left so that whoever might be in there won’t be able to get out immediately?”

He nodded and made his way down the tunnel on the left. A few minutes passed and then he returned.

“I’ve done what I can. Shall we now dispatch those on the right?”

I nodded and we made our way towards them. Zev managed to take the first carta member out, but no sooner than that was done, the remaining ones shouted for help. The door on the right burst open and out swarmed six more men. I quickly cast a freeze spell and got four of the six frozen, but to my surprise, they were instantly freed. Hidden in the room still was an elf mage. There were elves helping the carta? This could be a potential problem. I rushed ahead to take her out while Shale, Zev, and Alistair took care of the others.

As soon as they were all dead, we heard an explosion from the tunnel on the left and the remains of the door were blown out. A group of eight dwarves and some humans rushed out when the smoke cleared. No mages in this group so I recast my freeze spell, actually managing to get all of them in the enchantment. This made the job easy for my friends and soon they were all dead as well.

We continued down the natural cavern. There were more doors on the right and left and each one had its own group of enemies. Not only did we fight dwarves, but there were some more humans and elves. There were also Qunari mercenaries as well. Some, like Sten, had no horns, but there were a few that looked very intimidating with large bony foreheads and massive swept back horns.

Zev continued to find more traps scattered about and he was able to disarm most of them for us. A few did go off, alerting more groups of enemies, which we took care of.

Soon we found ourselves in another room, but this one was lined with cells. Zev disarmed yet another tripwire trap and we killed the carta members in here as well. From one cell in the back, I heard a feeble voice call out.

“Please stranger… let me out. I see you bear no love for Jarvia. Please, help me.”

I found a ring of keys on the belt of one of the dwarves. Once I found the key to unlock the right cell door, he limped out.

“T-thank you. We’ve been down here… can’t remember how long. My f-friend… he didn’t make it. Just stopped eating one day and… all for a stupid bet!”

“Go out the way we came in. That way should be safe,” I told the freed dwarven prisoner. “Sorry about your friend too.”

He nodded and said, “If you are going after Jarvia, give her a good swift kick from me.” He then limped out of the room.

More natural caverns followed. One had some really huge and nasty spiders in it. I backed off and let the others deal with them. Zev and Alistair already knew about my fear of spiders. After they were dead, I explained to Shale as well.

“Its fear is justified. They are quite ugly things and I don’t really care for webs stuck on me either,” he replied, surprising me.

A few more rooms with more carta killers were dealt with and then we reached the end of a long hallway that had been littered with traps. I was getting fairly tired and we were all covered in quite a bit of blood. I had also done my best to heal some of our wounds, though I knew Wynne would have to assist in some of the healing once we managed to get out of here. Hopefully, this last room was where Jarvia was hiding.

We walked into the room. There was a lone female dwarf standing in the center of it. She had quite a few mercenaries surrounding the room.

“Let me guess, you must be Jarvia,” I pronounced.

“So,” the woman smirked. “Harrowmont finally realized that we’re taking this city, yet he still can’t be bothered to send Dulin and his other men? He has to hire a group of worthless surfacers to do his dirty work?” She laughed. “Well strangers, you picked the wrong side. It doesn’t matter who is King, as long as there’s a Queen!”

“Wait… You’re the casteless that Bhelen is marrying?”

“Me? Marry Bhelen?! Are you out of your sodding head? No! He knocked up some noble-hunter and intends to make her his Queen, but I had plans in place to get rid of both him… and her. And Harrowmont? The fool wouldn’t last a week on the throne if he even got that far! As for you lot…”

“We don’t have to fight. I just want to talk,” I said.

“Talk?! You say that when the rest of my crew’s blood is on your weapons and armor? You’ll pay for their deaths a hundred times over!” She turned to the mercenaries near her. “Kill the elf and the pretty boy! Reduce that walking, talking, pile of rocks to rubble… but leave the mage for me. I have plans for her!”

We were all immediately set upon by the carta mercenaries, which Shale, Alistair, and Zevran quickly started dealing with. Jarvia stayed in the middle of the room staring at me, which I thought was odd. Then I noticed all of the barrels near her. She was surrounded by explosives! Sure enough, when I squinted, I could just make out the elaborate network of tripwires around her.

“What? Afraid to come after me, mage?” she taunted.

I smirked. “If you think I am coming anywhere near you, then you haven’t fought many mages.” I channeled an easy lightning spell that hit her. She began jerking around and what I hoped for happened. She hit one of her own tripwires. Several explosives went off, doing massive damage to her and a few of her assassins.

“H-help me, you fools!” she cried out. She tried to go into stealth but was apparently in too much pain as she quickly reappeared.

I could just make out Zevran, who had gone into stealth himself. He was quickly undoing all of the tripwires around Jarvia, so none of us would get hurt. As soon as it was finished, he popped out of stealth right behind her. A quick slash of his daggers and it was over. Jarvia, leader of the casteless carta, was dead.

Alistair, Shale, and I then finished off the remaining enemies.

“Let’s get out of here and inform some guards. They’re probably going to want to clean up this mess,” I said.

We found an exit in the back of the room. Following the new tunnel it seemed to come to a dead end, but then I could feel an air pressure difference. I cast a simple spell to move the rock… only it turned out to be a stone shelf, which fell over. We climbed out of the hole to find a shocked shopkeeper.

“Gah! By the beards of my ancestors!! How did you… Where did you come from?! Y-you made a HOLE in my WALL!”

“This hole leads to a tunnel in the carta’s hideout,” I stated.

“It… it does? Oh, sod it! If people find out about this, my business will be ruined! They’ll think I have something to do with Jarvia!”

“That won’t be a problem anymore. Jarvia is dead.”

“Dead? How? Y-you killed her?! And then you climbed out of there and into my shop! Y-you dripping blood all over my floors too! Oh, shit… J-just get outta my shop! I don’t want anything to do with this! If anyone comes asking, I’m telling them this is all **your** fault!”

“Fine, fine! We’re leaving!” Alistair muttered. He grabbed some cloths off of a nearby shelf. “How much do we owe – ”

“JUST GET OUT!” the shopkeeper yelled.

We left the shop in a hurry and the door was locked behind us. Alistair passed out the cloths and we wiped the blood off of us as best we could. I then took the soiled cloths and tossed them into a nearby lava fountain. They instantly burst into flames and were gone in mere seconds.

After telling a nearby guard about the hole in the shop leading to the carta base, I said, “Let’s get back to Harrowmont’s. We need to tell him what has happened… and get cleaned up properly.”

 

No sooner did we walk into Harrowmont’s office, he said. “I heard the news. Jarvia and her carta are dead.”

“News certainly does travel fast here…” I muttered.

Harrowmont continued. “I suppose it was unrealistic to expect them to surrender?”

“I tried to offer them mercy, but they chose to fight.”

Harrowmont nodded. “Would that some of the Noble Caste had such loyalty…”

“Speaking of castes, your lordship. I’d like to discuss some things with you later. About what we saw in Dust Town. But first I think we all need to get cleaned up.”

“Certainly. We can speak at dinner.”

 

After taking several damp cloths, provided to me by one of Harrowmont’s staff, I cleaned off both Alistair’s leather armor and my robe, then hung them up on the rack in the room to dry. I also took the opportunity to wash out Alistair’s padded shirt and pants and hung them up to dry as well. We then took a shower together. Though he was clearly interested, as was I, it had been a long and trying day. We decided to wait until bedtime to satisfy those urges.

Once done with the shower, I put my hair into a simple braid, and put on a dress. Alistair wore linen pants and a pullover shirt. We then met everyone at Harrowmont’s dinner table. After recapping what all had happened (minus my healing of Nadezda) in Dust Town and Jarvia, we were served a traditional dwarven dinner.

There was rare sliced bronto, boiled and roasted nugs, a lichen bread served with plum jam from the surface, a stew made from deep mushrooms, and honey mead. While some foods I considered a bit unusual, it was still good.

“So, Warden Kylara, what did you want to talk to me about?” Harrowmont asked while sipping his mead.

“I know the dwarves stand on thousands of years of tradition, but I need to try and understand. Why do you brand the casteless? Why do these poor dwarves never get a chance to try and make something of themselves?”

Harrowmont stared at me for a moment, then cleared his throat and said, “Well, since they are sons and daughters of criminals, they are likely to become criminals themselves. It is a preventative measure, nothing more.”

“How could you condemn a newborn infant of being a criminal? You don’t even wait for them to grow up and see what kind of life they choose for themselves? They are forced into a life of crime or to beggars simply because they are told from day one that they are no good… that they cannot make something of themselves!”

“Warden, if I may…” Harrowmont started, but I was on a rant at the moment.

“If you suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners corrupted from infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them… What else can be concluded, my lord, but that you first make thieves and then punish them? Instead of inflicting these horrible punishments, it would be far more to the point to provide everyone with some means of livelihood, so that nobody's under the frightful necessity of becoming first a thief and then a corpse.” **1** **4**

“That was rather well-spoken, love,” Alistair said to me, sotto voce.

“Warden!” Harrowmont spoke much louder, “It is not your place to come in here and dictate to us how we should run our city! These castes, our traditions, as you so eloquently said earlier, have stood for thousands of years!”

“But it just doesn’t seem fair…”

“In your eyes, it may seem that way, But the casteless **do** serve an important social function. They remind other dwarves that in spite of the ravages of our endless war with the darkspawn and other turmoil within our city, their lot could be far worse. Beyond that, Dust Town and its casteless also provide the city with a supply of dwarves skilled in subterfuge and other less savory talents. Noble-hunters are also often casteless.”

I had heard Jarvia mention that term. “What is a noble-hunter?”

“Noble-hunters, are female dwarves from lower castes – and yes, many of them do come from casteless families,” Harrowmont patiently explained. “Our birthrates are dipping dangerously low, so they help by providing children and thus more members to higher caste Houses.”

“Noble wives tolerate this?” I asked, again perhaps a bit on the rude side, as Harrowmont and his wife both glared at me.

“Any plan to supply noble houses with more children is welcomed.”

“Didn’t Jarvia say the Bhelen is marrying a casteless?” Alistair asked me, but also so that Harrowmont could hear.

“He is not marrying her. At best, if she bears him a son, she will be elevated to royal concubine.” Harrowmont stated.

“Look, this is all a well and good discussion, but perhaps better saved for another time?” Wynne suddenly said.

I nodded. Wynne was right. After Harrowmont was on the throne, perhaps then I could try and convince him to better the situation for the casteless. “I am sorry, Lord Harrowmont, I did overstep my bounds just a bit. But my companion, Wynne, does bring up the real reason again why we are here in the first place. So, now that Jarvia and the carta have been taken care of, when will you speak to the Assembly about our troops?” I asked.

Harrowmont sighed. “I have no desire to go back on my word, but when Bhelen heard the news about Jarvia, he raised the stakes.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, getting concerned.

“He will be forcing a vote within the next few weeks. By Dwarven Law, that prevents the Assembly from hearing any other pleas.” **1** **5**

I put my hand to my head. “And this means you need us to do something else now?”

“Yes. I am sorry. I will need your assistance one last time.”

I glanced around the table at the rest of my friends. Wynne, Leliana, and Alistair looked sympathetic, Zevran annoyed. Morrigan and Sten looked furious. But there was little else I could do. I heaved a sigh. “So, what now?”

“Have you heard of the Paragon Branka?”

“Yes. She created some kind of smokeless fuel that made your underground smithing easier and more effective. She went to the Deep Roads about two years ago with her house to look for some ancient relic and no one has seen her since.”

“Yes, that is exactly it. If she were to return and endorse someone for the throne, the Assembly would be honor-bound to accept her wishes.”

“And you are sure she would support you as King?” I asked.

Harrowmont shrugged. “It’s hard to say what she would do. Branka wasn’t exactly known for her predictability.”

“So we could end up going on this mad hunt for her, find her, bring her back, and then she might end up supporting Bhelen instead?” Wynne declared. “Where would that leave us then?”

“There is a slim chance that could happen. Branka never seemed to like being a Paragon. She was devoted to her craft, never cared for politics. But she also hated darkspawn with a ferocity seldom seen. Even if her voice doesn’t put me on the throne, I believe that she would still support you Wardens, because of your duty to end the Blight.”

“And if she is dead like you suspect?”

“You can bring some proof of her death – or her body – that we may return her to the Stone. This would at least show the Assembly that it was my hand that guided you to her remains.”

“Very well. We’ll head out in the morning, at the first horn blast, to the Deep Roads.”

“Thank you, Grey Wardens.”

 

Once we got back to our room, I checked on our drying clothes and supplies that we would need to have packed up in the morning.

“I wonder how long we will be down in the Deep Roads?” I said, mostly to myself, but Alistair overheard me.

“Hard to say, my love. If Branka has been down there for two years, she’ll have probably hidden herself pretty well… if she’s still alive that is.” He came over to me and pulled me into his warm embrace. “You’re tense. What’s got you worried?”

“This whole expedition. Can’t say I’m happy to be underground for so long. I just hope we have enough supplies for this.”

“We will make do. But enough of that for now. This is our last night in a private and comfortable room. I want to make the most of our time together because once we leave here, we won’t have any time for us.”

He slowly turned me around and began unbuttoning my dress, until I could slip out of it. I then turned once again to face him.

“You are so amazingly beautiful, Kylara. I am such a lucky man. I truly cannot imagine my life without you.”

I slowly began unlacing his linen shirt. “I love you, Alistair Theirin. No matter what our future holds, you will always stay in my heart.”

“Say that again, please?”

“I love you…”

“No. The part when you said my name. My full name.”

“Alistair… Theirin.”

His eyes closed briefly. When he reopened them they were shiny with unshed tears. “All my life… no one has ever bothered to say that. I’ve been called a bastard, a fool, an idiot. Only recently did it improve when they started calling me a Grey Warden.” He swiped at his eyes. “To finally hear my true name. To no longer have to hide who I am. To hear **you** say it. It means so much to me.” He swept me up into his arms and carried me to the bed in our room.

We made love that night like it was our first time together, tender, sweet, but no less intense. My magic thrummed within me and our crystal necklaces glowed with a new brightness. I found myself reaching heights of ecstasy that I hadn’t thought were possible, until I finally fell into an exhausted slumber.

Before succumbing to sleep himself, Alistair murmured in my ear softly, “I will love you always… wife.”

 

Harrowmont’s servants got us up in the morning. We quickly got dressed; Alistair putting on his full chainmail. With all of our supplies packed, we then all gathered in Harrowmont’s office.

“My men have traced Branka’s disappearance to an ancient crossroads known as Caridan’s Cross,” he said. “It is many miles below where we normally venture, but I can provide you a map to lead you there. The entrance to the Deep Roads is in the mines, outside of the Commons.”

“Understood.”

“Thank you again, Wardens. May the ancestors guide your steps.”

We left the Diamond Quarter and made our way to the Commons. I had written a quick letter to Brunnhylda and gave it to the guard captain with the instructions on where it needed to get delivered. He promised to get it there. We then passed by a woman who appeared to be praying to a large stone.

“Ancestors guard my son, for he is lost in the darkness. Mothers keep him safe, for you know what it is to mourn…” She slowly stood up and turned to face us. “I’m sorry. Did you have an offering for the ancestors?” She looked at all of in turn, then said, “Although, I can’t imagine your ancestors reside in the Stone.”

“Is this some type of shrine?” I asked.

The woman looked momentarily confused. “I… don’t know that word. This is a section of stone kept bare to receive our prayers. The Stone gave rise to our people and it is where their spirits return in death.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, what is your name?”

“No, I don’t mind. My name is Filda, widow of Teruck of the Smith Caste. I pray here every day for my son, Ruck.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “I only wish I knew whether I should be asking for his safe return, or for the ancestors to accept his soul.”

“Safe return? Your son is missing?” Leliana knelt down, facing Filda. “You poor dear! When did this happen?”

“It was five years ago. He was only a youngster.” She sighed. “ He joined a Deep Roads excursion – the only smith to go with the warriors, to repair their arms. He was so proud. But… he got separated from them somehow. When the warriors returned, my son was not with them.”

“Did anyone go looking for him?” Alistair inquired with concern.

“The captain of the guards said it was too much of a risk to go looking. Too many get taken by the darkspawn that way.”

That made me angry. “What? They didn’t even try? Your son should never have been left abandoned like that! We can go look for him if you want.”

Filda seemed surprised. “How? There is no way… except to brave the Deep Roads yourselves!”

“We are Grey Wardens,” Alistair said as he put his arm around me. “That is what we do.”

“Here we go again…” I heard Morrigan mutter quietly.

Filda thankfully didn’t hear her. “Grey Wardens? So you could do it! Only Wardens face the Deep Roads without fear.”

“I am not a Warden, but I have no fear of these ‘Deep Roads’ either,” Sten commented.

“Oh, thank you! The ancestors have finally heard my prayers!” Filda bowed graciously to us. “I will continue to come here and pray for your success, Wardens. Please come and find me as soon as you return.”

 

We were just leaving the Commons when a vibrant and cheerful dwarf child waved us down.

“Excuse me! I, um… Do you have a moment?”

Wynne greeted her. “Yes, child? What do you want?”

“I have been trying **forever** to find someone who really knows the surface world! H-have you head of something called, ‘the Circle’?”

“Yes. I am a mage, so is Wynne, and Morrigan here.”

“Do not lump me in with your precious Circle,” Morrigan smirked.

“Morrigan…”

“Kylara…”

I sighed, shook my head, and turned back to the exuberant child. “What do you want to know about the Circle?”

The girl gushed on. “I’ve never met an actual mage! Is it true you can manipulate nature’s forces with your mind? Like you were born with lyrium in your veins?! I can’t even imagine!” I chuckled at her enthusiasm. She took a quick breath, then said, “I’ve been trying to reach someone there for years. I’ve sent missives with every caravan that was heading that way… but I still haven’t gotten any reply. I wanted to know if they would accept me for study!”

“Don’t be foolish. Dwarves don’t have the ability to use magic!” Morrigan rolled her eyes.

“Oh, I know that!” Her eagerness could not be squelched. “No dwarf can cast spells, but I don’t see why I shouldn’t study it! It would be a valuable exchange! Orzammar would learn one of the great natural forces of the surface… and the Circle would gain direct access to our knowledge of lyrium smithing!”

“She is so adorable!” Leliana grinned. “I think this is a great idea!”

“Next time I go to the surface, I will bring the Circle your request, child.”

“Wow!! Thank you so much! My name is Dagna, daughter of Janar of the Smith Caste! Tell them that I have already begun reading the Tevinter Imperium’s ‘Fortikum Kadab,’ and it is just fascinating!” She took a big breath and let out a squee of excitement. “Oh, I’ll go pack my bags right now! I’ll be waiting at my father’s shop!”

“You do understand dear, that it will take time for us to get there and for them to reply?” Wynne said gently.

“I know… I don’t mind waiting! Thanks again!” She waved goodbye to us.

As we walked away, heading towards the Deep Roads entrance, I heard Wynne laugh lightly. “She finds ‘Fortikum Kadab’ interesting? Last time I talked to Irving, he said he’d rather be trampled by wild brontos than read that book again!”

 

We were about ready to finally enter the Deep Roads when I saw Oghren running up to us, pack and battleaxe strapped on his back. He finally caught up to us and stood there for a moment, trying to catch his breath.

“There you are. I thought I’d spoken to a Grey Warden once before, but for some reason, I chalked it up to the drink. I, ah… I know you’re comin’ down here to look for Branka… and I, uh, need to ask a favor.”

“You’re Oghren, right? You are Branka’s ex-husband, right?” I asked.

“I am **still** her husband!” he growled. “More important than that though, I’m the only one who cares about her as a person… not just some ‘symbol’ to leave in the Deep Roads where she can’t offend anyone. I know what Branka was lookin’ for down there. You, on the other hand, only probably know whatever Harrowmont’s men have dug up on why she disappeared. If’n we pool our knowledge, together we would stand a chance at finding her. If not, good sodding luck.”

I glanced back at the rest of my group. Most of them seemed a bit ambiguous about taking along this surly dwarf… On the other hand, if he knew why Branka was down in the Deep Roads… Well, what was one more person tagging along with our ragtag group?

“Then I suppose we have a deal then, Oghren,” I replied.

He nodded, a bit of drool seeping from the corner of his mouth. He raised up a flask and took a pull from it. Something was telling me that is wasn’t water in there. “You should know,” he said after stashing the flask, “that Branka was looking for something called ‘The Anvil of the Void’.”

“Why does that sound familiar?” I heard Shale mutter.

“It should, golem.” Shale bristled at that. Oghren continued, unawares, “That anvil is what built you, and all the other golems we used to have ‘round here. It was lost centuries ago. The smith Caridin built it. With it, Orzammar had a hundred years of peace, while it was protected by the golems forged on that anvil.” He pulled his flask back out and took another long drink. “As far as anyone knows, the Anvil was built in the old Ortan Thaig. Branka planned to start lookin’ there. All she knew was that the Thaig is past Caridin’s Cross.”

“Harrowmont gave us a map to Caridin’s Cross,” I said.

Oghren belched, then said, “If’n we’re going then, let’s get moving. Branka ain’t gonna sodding find herself!”

We walked up to a group of dwarves guarding the entrance to the mines.

“What’s this? A human? Did we make these tunnels tall enough for humans?” One dwarf laughed slightly, but then said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t allow you past this point without a deshyr’s permission.”

Oghren snorted. “Open your eyes man! These are the Grey Wardens! They’re on an important mission to find your Paragon! Now get out of their way, or do I have to take your stinkin’ head off?!”

“Oghren…” I groaned. _Please tell me he wasn’t going to act this way for the rest of our time together!_ I sighed and politely addressed the guards, “Ah, what Oghren was trying to say… is that we have permission. From Lord Harrowmont.”

“I see.” The guard said, keeping a close watch on Oghren. “Very well. You may pass then. I’d offer more assistance, but my command post is here. Orzammar relies on us to hold this line.”

“How far is Caridin’s Cross?” Alistair asked.

The guard shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. No one’s been there in centuries. But recently, both Bhelen and Harrowmont had men scouting the area. No one’s told us anything, however.”

“What do you know about Paragon Branka?”

“Just what anyone knows. She went out into the Deep Roads with her entire house, ‘cept him, of course,” the guard gestured at a seething Oghren, “and she’s never coming back.”

“If anyone could survive it,” Oghren growled, “it’d be her. She’d do it just to spite me!”

“You’ve been saying that for years,” the guard scoffed. “Nobody survives the Deep Roads that long!”

I cleared my throat to get the guards attention again. He looked up at me. “Are darkspawn the only danger down there?”

“Of course not!” The guard shook his head at me. “Down there you’ll also run into giant spiders, deepstalkers, and other vermin.”

I shuddered. _More giant spiders? Maker, why?!_ Then I asked since I had never heard of them, “What are deepstalkers?”

“Ugly beasties, they are. They walk on two legs but have the head of a worm. Their mouths are full of razor sharp teeth and they hunt in packs. So don’t get fooled if you only see one. There will be dozens more that you **can’t** see…”

_Wonderful…_

“Would we see any other dwarves out there?”

“If you get that deep in, you might run into some of the Legion of the Dead.”

“I’ve heard about them. They are elite warriors, right? Battling darkspawn until they die?”

“Yes, the Legion is a military organization not unlike you Wardens. They accept anyone from any level of society. Many join the Legion to avoid punishment for various crimes or to regain their honor. They are an independent company of soldiers, accepting no one’s command but their own.”

“I see. Well, thank you for the information.”

“You’re welcome. Best of luck to you all and may the ancestors guide you.”

I nodded and all of us headed into the mines to make our way to the Deep Roads.

 

We followed Harrowmont’s map for several hours, finally coming to a dead end at the end of one of the longer mine tunnels.

“Shit,” I muttered. I looked at the map again.

“Do not tell me we have gone the wrong way,” Zevran groaned

“I followed this map exactly! This has to be the right tunnel!”

Morrigan came up to me. “If you are so sure, then consider the possibility that Bhelen’s men may have covered it up?”

“You… think so?”

“I’d say ‘tis a strong possibility.”

I put my hand up against the rocks and concentrated. After a few moments, I realized I **could** feel a subtle difference in heat and air pressure. “T-those… bastards!” I growled. “That means Bhelen sent men ahead of us. We need to get in there – now! Morrigan, would you be willing to aid me in this?”

“I-I don’t know what you’d need of me,” she stammered slightly. “You are already so powerful.”

“A little extra magic push can’t hurt. But I will need to hold your hand,” I warned her.

She gaped at me for a few seconds, then started laughing. “Very well, then.” She took my hand and held her staff with the other.

I raised my own staff and spoke loudly. “Tha mi ag àithneadh cumhachd na talmhainn. Gluais na creagan sin!” <I command the earth's energy. Move these rocks!>

The rocks and dirt rumbled and then exploded outwards into a huge carved tunnel beyond. When the dust finally settled we were all left completely blown away.

These new tunnels were nothing like the mine shafts we had been in. These were far more ancient.

We all slowly stepped through the hold Morrigan and I had made, mouths agape in shock. When we had traversed through the mines, the guard hadn’t been joking about not making them tall enough for humans. All of us, save Oghren and Zevran had to constantly duck to avoid the ceiling beams. Alistair, Shale, and Sten, being the tallest of our group had to walk on their knees through most of the mines. But in these tunnels? The ceiling above was easily at eight meters! Each support pillar was intricately carved there were lava “channels” running down each side of the road, which itself was three meters wide.

Since the lava provided light, we could see that these “Deep Roads” (for we had truly reached them) were remarkably preserved. Yet there were still sections that had quite a bit of damage done to them… I had to assume from the darkspawn.

Oghren whistled low. “Caridin’s Cross! I can’t believe that Harrowmont and Bhelen’s men actually managed to track this place down. This used to be the biggest crossroads in the old empire. You could get anywhere from here – including Ortan Thaig.”

“What is so important about this ‘Ortan Thaig’?” I asked.

“It’s the home of Caridin, the Paragon who made the Anvil. He was an Ortan before he founded his own house, but even then, he spent most of his time in their thaig, rather than his own. Branka figured it was the best guess for where the Anvil was located.”

“Do you know anything about this Anvil?”

“Only that Caridin built it. All anybody else ever really knew was that it had some kind of Stone-blessed power. Every golem that ranged across the old empire was hammered on the steel of that Anvil, but no one ever knew exactly how they were made. But Branka was sure **she** could find out.”

I glanced at Shale and then said, “Is that why she’s after it? To create more golems?”

“Not sure,” Oghren grunted. “She kept her secrets from me. But that may be it.”

“Why?” Shale asked simply.

“Why what, golem?”

“Oghren, his name is Shale,” I said.

Oghren took another long pull from his flask. “Fine. **Shale**. Why what?”

“Never mind…” Shale muttered.

“Fine, then.” Oghren shrugged and turned back to me. “Anyways, Warden. Before she left for the Deep Roads with everyone, Branka had dug up some old maps of this area, and I happened to get a good at ‘em before she left. Though it’s tough to tell with parts of it so collapsed; near as I can figure, going this way…” He pointed to a part of the Crossroads that went straight then curved off to the left. “…should lead us to Ortan Thaig.”

“Then we should get going. We need to find Bhelen’s men too.”

“Been waitin’ for two sodding years for someone to say that!”

 

We walked down the Deep Roads of Caridin’s Cross until we hit a dead end. To our right, a tunnel opened into the wall, joining up to a natural cave.

“Only way to go… for now,” Oghren said. He hefted his battleaxe and set off down the new passage. At the end of it, we had a rather rude surprise waiting. A small group of dwarves and one lone elf were milling about. They seemed as shocked to see us as we were them. One of them suddenly laughed.

“Well, look what we have here… a couple of Harrowmont’s little lackeys! Let’s show ‘em who’s really gonna be King!”

Fortunately for us, they were ill prepared and we took them down easily.

“Hopefully that will be the last we see of any of Bhelen’s men. Until we get back to Orzammar, that is,” I said.

“Pathetic lot, they were,” Oghren laughed and drank from his flask again.

“Just how much of that did you bring with you, Oghren?” Alistair asked.

“Not enough,” he muttered and belched.

Stepping around Bhelen’s dead men, we proceeded down the tunnel. It opened up into a fairly large cave. I felt them at the same time Alistair did.

“Darkspawn!” I shouted. Everyone moved into their fighting positions and we began attacking.

No sooner than that group was defeated, however, another group of darkspawn moved in to try and ambush us. We dealt with them in the same brutal manner, quickly and efficiently.

There was to be no rest for the weary though, as we made our way through the cavern. The fighting echoed all around and wave after wave of darkspawn kept coming from all areas – tunnels, caves, and crevices.

I eventually fought my first shriek and they did earn that name rather well; it’s loud cries piercing through my skull and causing quite the headache. If that weren’t bad enough, they had a tendency to appear and disappear out of nowhere, their blade-like arms slashing and doing quite a lot of damage. Wynne was doing her best to keep everyone healed.

Finally, after Sten, Oghren, and Alistair took down a pair of ogres, the battle was finished. We moved far away from all of the reeking corpses and sat down to rest.

I was utterly exhausted and I could see that some of the group were not doing so well. Leliana had a large gash on her arm from a shriek that Wynne was currently healing. Zevran was nursing a head wound. Everyone was breathing hard from all of the fighting (except fot Shale, naturally). Though we mages hadn’t been in melee combat, the mental strain of having to cast so many spells in succession had taken its toll as well. Several lyrium potions were consumed by the three of us as we recovered.

About a half-hour later, with everyone healed and rested for the moment, Alistair and I decided to scout around to make sure we were in the clear before we decided to set up camp for the night.

We walked around the perimeter of the cavern, hand-in-hand. But it was not for romance. We reached outwards with our senses, feeling for any lingering darkspawn. When we felt none, we were relieved. He did give me a quick kiss before we headed back to the group.

We set up a small bonfire and had a quick meal. I was then hoping to curl up on my bedroll with Alistair next to me, but that didn’t get to happen, much to my disappointment.

“We are the only ones who can sense the darkspawn from afar. So we are going to need to take turns watching and sleeping.” He gave me another kiss. “I am sorry love, but while we are down here, it will have to be that way.”

“I understand.”

“Once we get back to Orzammar, believe me when I say I **will** be making it up to you…” he gave me a sly grin and then whispered in my ear, “over and over. That is a guarantee.”

“Then I have much to look forward to,” I murmured back to him.

He gave me one more quick kiss. “I’ll take first watch with Sten. You try and get some sleep, all right?”

I nodded. We all, but for Sten and Alistair, went to sleep.

 

The next morning, we made really good progress and soon…

“By the tits of my ancestors! Ortan Thaig! I never thought I’d see this place in the flesh.” Oghren ran a hand over a nearby rock and chuckled. “I can see Branka all over this place. She always took chips from the walls at regular intervals when she was in a new tunnel – check their composition.” He sighed. “But if she were still here, she’d have sentries out by now.”

“Do you know anything else about this place?”

“Other than what I already told you, not much. Caridin stayed here mostly. I guess he didn’t want to move his people to Bownammar.”

“What’s Bownammar?”

“The City of the Dead. Caridin built it to honor the Legion of the Dead, but it was more like a sodding mausoleum than a city. That was, of course, before he built the Anvil. After that, he was the city’s pet genius… until he angered the King and fell into disfavor.”

“So Ortan Thaig is the city?”

“No, no. This is a thaig. A settlement! Bownammar is the city and it is north and west of here. But that’s not important… at least I hope it isn’t.”

“Why is that?”

“The City of the Dead is now known as the Dead Trenches. The darkspawn conquered it and much of the Legion was destroyed when the fortress fell. We really don’t want to go there… unless absolutely necessary.”

“I see,” I said softly. “But there’s no sign of the Anvil here, is there?”

“Don’t know. No one does. Not even the Shaperate. In Caradin’s time, this thaig was almost a part of Orzammar. No one, maybe save Caridin himself, bothered to mark where the Anvil was. Or could be that it was here once and Caridin moved it when he and the King fell out. Feh! It could be destroyed for all I know.”

“But wouldn’t Branka have come back if the Anvil was no more?”

“Good point, Warden. So maybe it is still out there somewhere. If we find it, we’ll find Branka.”

 

After passing through another natural cavern system we came to an opening that was so massive it everything else we’d seen down here so far puny by comparison. The ceiling of this cave was lit by softly glowing blue crystals. There were ruins of tall buildings scattered all over the place.

“Wow,” I whispered. Even though I had said it quietly, my voice still echoed throughout the cavern.

Just then, several stone golems appeared and ghostly apparitions walked out of the buildings. All of them swarmed in to attack us. While the golems were a bit tougher to defeat, we soon had taken care of all of the enemies. I peered around one of the buildings and saw a cave ahead with the unmistakable glow of a campfire burning within. A small dwarf was standing at the front of the cave opening, but when he saw us he screamed and started running back into the cave. He stopped after a few meters, turned back around, and bellowed at us.

“There’s nothing for you here! It’s mine! I’ve claimed it!”

“Claimed it? Are you part of the clan who lived here?”

“The clan…? No. But it’s still mine! Ruck’s been here for years now and no shiny surfacer will take him away!”

“Bah!” Oghren spat. “He’s a bloody scavenger. Good as sodding gone!”

“What do you mean?” Alistair asked.

“Supposedly, the only way you can survive down here is by eating the darkspawn dead,” Oghren muttered.

“B-but darkspawn blood is poison!” I exclaimed. “Why would someone willingly eat darkspawn dead?!”

“Hides them from the darkspawn, but it also turns their brains to sewage,” Oghren replied.

“It burns when it goes down… It burns! Now begone! you’ll bring the dark ones back, you will! They’ll crunch your bones!” He ran further into the cave.

From the ceiling of the massive cave, a large group of spiders suddenly descended from their webs.

 _Not again,_ I moaned.

I froze a few of them, Leliana shot several with her bow, and everyone else attacked once the spiders they came off of their webs. With everyone working as a team, the spiders were soon dead. We then followed the dwarf into his cave.

Once inside, we slowly approached him. The dwarf backed away fearfully, his head and arms jerking spasmodically. His eyes glittered angrily.

“Go away! This is mine! Only I gets to plunder its riches!”

“We should put him out of his misery, yes?” Zevran said.

I shook my head angrily. “No! He means us no harm, he’s just scared!” Then turned to face the strange dwarf. “Is this… Branka’s campsite?” I asked.

“It’s MINE! I’m the one who found it! I drove out the crawlers! Now it’s mine!” he shouted.

I dropped my voice in pitch to sound soothing. “I am not here to steal anything. I promise.”

The dwarf cautiously moved a little closer to me, his fear ebbing. “Pretty lady? Pretty eyes… pretty hair. Smells like the steam of burning water… eyes blue as the deepest rock. Pretty lady will not take anything from Ruck? Won’t take Ruck’s shiny worms and sparkle rocks?”

“If it is valuable, I might trade you for it,” I said softly.

He came a little closer, still twitching, but clearly less agitated. “Oh. Ruck not mind that maybe.”

“So your name is… Ruck?”

“Ruck not pretty name, not like pretty lady. Ruck is small. Ugly and twisted, he is.”

 _Ruck… that name was familiar._ Then I remembered.

“Do you have a mother, named Filda?” I asked cautiously.

Clearly, this was the wrong thing to say as Ruck started lashing out again. “N-n-n-no! No Filda! No mother! No warm blanket and stew and pillow and soft words!” Tears leaked from his eyes. “Ruck doesn’t deserve good memories! No… no… no… no – ”

“Oh, the poor dear!” Wynne murmured.

“Shh… calm down, Ruck. Different questions now.”

“Y-you will not make Ruck remember? You let Ruck stay in the darkness?”

I nodded slowly. Then asked, “When did you arrive here?”

“Too long ago… must think. Five years? Six? Ruck no longer remembers the before times.”

“Before times?” I heard Alistair ask quietly.

I turned briefly and whispered, “I think he means when he still lived in Orzammar.” I then knelt down and spoke to Ruck again. “That is such a long time to be alone!”

Ruck sighed. “The pretty lady understands. She knows how Ruck feels, she does.”

“How did you survive here?”

“When dark ones were here, Ruck kept to the shadows. They don’t look in the shadows… not if you’re quiet. Then Ruck got hungry, but there was no food. So Ruck ate of the dead dark ones. It changed Ruck. Now Ruck could go out sometimes and the dark ones paid him no mind.” Ruck twitched again. “But then the dark ones left. Ruck was all alone. Until pretty lady came…”

“What are we then, chopped liver?” Leliana spoke under her breath.

“I think the little twisted dwarf is infatuated with it,” Shale rumbled softly. “Interesting.”

Even though I knew the answer to my next question, I still wondered what Ruck might say about it. “Where did the ‘dark ones’ go, Ruck?”

“I thinks they went south, pretty lady. Far, far to the south. That is where the dark master calls them with his beautiful voice. So much joy when he awoke!”

“Mmm… He’s talking ‘bout the archdemon, huh?” I heard Oghren mumble.

Ruck continued. “After the dark master awoke, he called his children and they all went. I wanted to go too and gaze upon his beauty… but no… N-no. Ruck… Ruck is a coward.”

I turned to my friends. “Even though we haven’t seen many darkspawn, there are still a crap-ton of giant spiders and other nasties down here…” I shuddered.

“Oh. Y-yes. The crawlers,” Ruck said. “The crawlers used to eat the smallest dark ones. Now crawlers go hungry and try to come after Ruck. But Ruck stay here by fire. Crawlers don’t like fire.”

“Did you find anything… unusual at this camp?” I asked, glancing at Oghren, then back at Ruck.

“J-just bits of things, but only bits. Before Ruck got here… crawlers took almost everything. They took things of metal and things of paper. They took the shinies and the words.”

“Paper and words, hmm?” Oghren mused. “Sound like someone here took notes. Maybe this was Branka’s old camp!”

Ruck rambled on. “They bring the stuff to the great nest! The nest for the eggs! They put the shinies and the words inside, they do!”

“Odd. Why would spiders want metal and paper for their nest?” Alistair asked.

I shrugged and muttered, “I don’t even want to think about it.” Then I asked Ruck. “Would you like to trade anything now, Ruck?”

Ruck nodded. “Okay, pretty lady…”

Surprisingly, Ruck did have a few interesting items in his “stash”. He had a few runes that could be used to enchant our weapons, some deep mushrooms that we could use for food, and also a belt that had some magical properties. I gave Ruck some of my coins, which he seemed to really like. But then, for some strange reason, my crystal necklace began to glow softly. It caught Ruck’s immediate attention.

“Ooh… Pretty lady have pretty shiny on her neck. Ruck… like pretty shiny rocks. Ruck wants the pretty shiny!” He moved closer to me.

“Um, I am sorry Ruck, but this pretty shiny belongs to me. I can’t trade this.” I crawled backwards on my knees slowly.

“Ruck no trade. Ruck wants pretty lady to give the pretty shiny to Ruck… now!” He came up and started trying to grab it off of my neck.

“No… Ruck. No!” I held my hand up trying to keep him from reaching it. “Calm yourself, Ruck. Please!”

Just then there was a bright flash from the crystal and everything went white. I saw that I could move and look around, but it seemed to me like everyone else was frozen. I saw Alistair trying to reach out to me, Zevran getting ready to pull out his daggers, Morrigan looking to arm a hostile spell, and Wynne looking shocked.

I turned back around and saw Ruck cowering on the floor of the cave. He mumbled, “Ruck sorry! Ruck no mean to make pretty lady angry… Please… don’t hurt Ruck…”

“Ruck,” I said gently, “I am not angry. You just frightened me.”

“P-pretty lady… not mad?”

I shook my head slowly, “No, I am not mad. Please get up, Ruck.”

He carefully got up off the dirt floor of the cave but kept a bit of distance from me.

I glanced behind me again, everyone was still in the same positions as before. _What was going on here? Why is it that only Ruck and I can move?_ I wondered. Did this have something to do with my magic? With the crystal? _Maker’s Breath! I hope I can somehow undo whatever it is I have done!_

Just then, I noticed Ruck had come closer. “Pretty lady okay? Ruck sorry…”

I sighed. “I am okay, Ruck. Just trying to figure out what is going on.”

“C-can Ruck… touch the pretty shiny? Ruck… no take it. Ruck promise.”

“If you are careful, Ruck. Pretty shiny was a gift to me…” I stole another backward glance at my love, still unmoving. “A very precious gift.”

“Ruck… understands.” He reached out a finger and wiped a tear that had leaked out of my eye. Then, gazing at the glowing crystal, he slowly touched it. There was another bright flash and when my vision returned to normal again, everyone was moving again. Everyone, but Ruck.

I quickly stopped Zev from attacking as Alistair reached out and grasped my arm gently.

“What… just happened?” he asked.

“I-I don’t know.” I turned back to Ruck. “Ruck? Are you all right? Ruck?”

He moved then, much to my relief, but relief quickly turned to shock when he simply said, “Thank you. Ruck will go home now.” He then turned, picked up a short sword and shield, then walked out of the cave he had called home for the last several years without a glance behind him.

We all followed him for a short distance; all of us in shocked silence. Nothing seemed to come out and attack him even though we could see groups of deepstalkers and spiders off in the dark distance. Ruck turned around a corner and then disappeared from our sight.

“Kylara?” Wynne looked at me carefully. “Did you… cast a spell on that poor dwarf?”

“No,” I simply said. To myself I thought, _at least I don’t think I did…_ _But how can I explain anything when I don’t even understand what just happened myself?_

“Are we just going to leave him out there alone?” Leliana asked.

I sighed. “I hate to say it, but it’s in the Maker’s hands now. We can’t spare the time to follow him. We have our own mission we must complete.”

Alistair nodded. “Kylara is right. I fear for him too, but there is nothing more we can do for him at this time. We need to press on.”

Oghren grunted. “Well then, let’s get movin’ then!”

We gathered up our supplies and then moved deeper into the remains of Ortan Thaig.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 14 Two quotes from Thomas Moore. In a way, I thought this fit how the casteless are treated. https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/3063220.Thomas_More (First quote is also used in the movie “Ever After” by Drew Barrymore’s character, Danielle, as she scolds Prince Henry of France. Love this flick too! ^_^) 
> 
> 15 In the game, Harrowmont’s statement to the Warden is “Bhelen is forcing a vote in the next two days.” But the next step in the game (for those ppl reading who have not played – mostly my friends and family) is to traverse the Deep Roads. You can get this done within a matter of hours of play time… but I’d like to think that if you are down “for real”, you’d be there for quite some time, which is why I changed the statement to “weeks” instead of “two days”. The Deep Roads are a labyrinthine network of tunnels and lost thaigs (dwarven settlements… not necessarily cities). You are not only down there to find Branka, but you end up killing lots of creatures, darkspawn, and you’re also navigating puzzles and traps. “Weeks” just made more sense for the story. 
> 
> Also NEW RECORD! 15,000 words! Holy Hannah!


	24. The Deep Roads (part 2) and The Broodmother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylara, Alistair, and their friends continue searching the Deep Roads in an attempt to find the missing Paragon Branka.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Incredible art showing Alistair & Kylara in the Deep Roads by the fabulous Ember! (http://out-of-the-embers.tumblr.com/)

We set up camp for the night several hours after leaving Ruck’s cave.

“Looks like that bone-pickin’ scavenger was living in Branka’s old camp,” Oghren commented as he pulled out another flask and drank from it. “Did you see the marks on the floor? There were a lot of people and fires there once. Those must have been Branka’s papers he said were taken by the spiders. Nothing that fragile would’ve been left from the days of the thaig.”

As Wynne was fixing a simple stew out of the deep mushrooms for us to eat, I thought about the fact that it had been eerily quiet since we had left the cave. While making our way through the old thaig, I had seen spiders of various shapes and sizes. Strangely though, they all appeared to be fleeing from us as we moved forward. I supposed I should be glad of that, considering my fear, yet the thought did not comfort me. In fact the more spiders I saw running off, the more I grew uneasy.

After our simple meal, Oghren said he’d take first watch. I also volunteered to also stay up, since my nerves were on high alert.

A few hours later, I was getting cramped from sitting for so long. “Hey Oghren,” I said and nudged him.

“What d’ya want, Warden?”

“I need to get up and walk around for a bit. Will you be all right by yourself?”

“You think I can’t keep watch by myself?” Oghren grunted.

I couldn’t really explain my uneasiness about leaving him without making it seem like I didn’t trust him, so I finally just said, “I’ll be back soon.”

As I left the camp, I passed by Shale who was sitting away from the rest of us. Since he didn’t need to sleep, I wondered why he didn’t volunteer for watch duty.

“Where is it going?” he asked as I walked by.

“I am just stretching my legs.”

“That doesn’t look like stretching. Does it want me to pull on it? I could really stretch it.”

“It just means I needed to get some exercise, Shale. Besides, if you tried to ‘stretch’ me, you’d likely pull my legs off.”

“I suppose that is true… It and the others are a bit puny.”

I rolled my eyes. Then I asked, “Since you don’t have to rest, why don’t you help us keep watch when we sleep?”

“It never asked me?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it. _Well, that was true…_ “Okay, fair enough. Would you be willing to then? Either Oghren or I should try and rest up for a bit.”

“Fine, I will follow it back to the camp.”

We both started heading back, then I stopped abruptly. Where the campfire glow should have been it was all dark and quiet.

“Why did it stop?” Shale asked.

“Shh… Something is wrong. There is no campfire.”

“Perhaps the drunken dwarf relieved himself on it and it went out?”

I shushed Shale again, who made an annoyed sound and then listened carefully. The sounds I started hearing just then made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It was the unmistakable sound of spider pincers clicking. The glowing crystals in the cavern ceiling provided some illumination, but not enough for me to see clearly. I touched my eyes gently and whispered. “Leig dhomh faicinn.”

My vision switched so that it was almost as if I was standing out in bright sunlight. What I saw then had me utterly horrified. One by one, my friends were being bitten by spiders and then subsequently wrapped up in webbing. Other spiders began dragging the cocoons away. **16**

“Shit!” I whispered. I turned to Shale and quickly explained what I had seen.

In a low tone, Shale asked, “What will it do to save its friends?”

“You won’t help? They are your friends too!”

“I did not say that. But I am of little use now. It needs to find where the spiders are taking the rest.” Shale paused for a bit, then asked, “Does it have a spell it can use to let me know where to go, once it finds them?”

“I… do have a spell. But I have only ever used it on another person. I have no idea if it would work on a golem,” I murmured.

“It must try. If not, it may lose its friends forever.”

I glanced back at the spiders. They had nearly taken everyone. “Kneel down please.”

Shale did and I touched his stone head. “Èist rium nad inntinn. Lean mo ghuth.” <Listen to me in your mind. Follow my voice.> I then thought, _Can you hear me, Shale?_

“That… is an odd feeling. Yes, I heard it. Now what?”

“I am really going to hate this next part…” I shuddered and thought the incantation. I transformed into a giant spider. _Oh, this feels really strange… and_ _awful_ _,_ I thought. _All right, Shale. I will follow them and let you know where to go._

Shale nodded. I turned around and scuttled off on my many legs.

 

As I approached the spiders, to my shock and horror, I heard one speak.

“You t-t-t-there. Grab t-t-t-that last one. We must-t-t-t hasten t-t-t-to the Queen. She hungers…”

The spider who had spoken then grabbed one of the two remaining cocoons with its pincers and started dragging it off. I followed its example, carefully picking up the last one and then I trailed after it.

After a few minutes, we entered a small crevice. It was just wide enough to squeeze my spider body through and the cocoon I was carrying… but nowhere large enough for Shale. Still, I let him know where I was. _We have moved into this crevice about a half kilometer from camp. The entrance is_ _on the left, but_ _too small for you. I don’t know how you will get in. Perhaps an opportunity will present itself._

I then dragged my precious bundle down a sloping entrance and into a large cave. The other spiders had laid their cocoon bundles in a neat row in the center of the cave, so I did the same with my cocoon. Then I backed off and stood with the rest of the other spiders.

At the end of the cave was a massive bundle of webs. The crystals on the cave ceiling were not as bright here, but the light was glinting off of metal shards that had been embedded in the webs. Bits of paper also dangled from web strands, swaying gently in the air currents. _They took the metal and paper for… decorations? Since when did spiders take up interior decorating?_

“My Queen! We bring t-t-t-to you the t-t-t-travelers. You will feast-t-t-t well t-t-t-tonight!”

There was movement in the web bundle. Two very large, hairy legs poked out and parted the web. Out came the largest spider I had ever seen! She, for it was obviously the Queen, was easily the size of a small horse. Had I not been in spider form I probably would have vomited and then passed out.

“Exssssssslent-t-t-t!” she hissed and clicked. “I am famissssssshed!”

She moved her massive bulk over towards the cocoons.

_Shale, if you are out there, please do something… NOW!_

For a few precious seconds, nothing happened. Then the whole cave began to shake. Rocks crumbled from the walls and fell from the ceiling.

“What-t-t-t isssssss going on?” the Spider Queen hissed. “Go, my children! Find and dessssssstroy it-t-t-t!”

All of the other spiders scuttled their way up the sloping path to the entrance. The cave continued to shake. I moved carefully towards the cocoons, being careful to avoid the falling rocks. Then the Spider Queen noticed me.

“What-t-t-t are you doing t-t-t-there?”

“I t-t-t-thought I should move… your feast-t-t-t. So it-t-t-t doesn’t get crushed?” It was so bizarre hearing my voice like that, but I hoped the Queen believed me. I still didn’t feel like a very convincing spider. To my surprise, she fell for it.

“Ah, good. Yessssssss, do t-t-t-that. I am ret-t-t-treating to the sssssssafety of my nessssssst-t-t-t.” She then disappeared behind her decorated webs.

I grabbed each cocoon as quickly as I could and pulled them to a corner of the cave. The rocks had stopped falling, so I could only assume that Shale was busy fighting against the spiders that had swarmed out. I glanced around the corner. There was no movement from the Queen’s nest, so I quickly changed back to myself.

“Maker forbid I have to take that shape ever again…” I muttered. I started tearing the cocoons open. Thankfully, the first one I found was Wynne. I had one small healing potion I had stuffed into my pocket before transforming. Fortunately, it was still there. I still had not figured out how my clothes also came back when I changed back… I guess it was just part of the spell somehow. I tipped the potion into Wynne’s slack mouth and then massaged her throat to get it down. A moment passed and I heard her groan. Her eyelids fluttered open.

“K-Kylara? What happened? Where are we?”

I put my finger to my lips. “You were all taken by the giant spiders in this cave. We need to free the rest and get them healed. Think you can help me?”

“Giant s-spiders? Oh, my.” She looked around and saw the rest of the cocoons. “Yes, I can help. Are they all dead? The spiders, I mean.”

“Shale is hopefully taking care of them, but the Spider Queen is still here in her nest. We will have to deal with her soon.” I started tearing open another cocoon, finding Zevran in it. “We must hurry, Wynne. Heal them please!”

She nodded and placed her hands on Zevran, while I got Sten out of the next bundle of webs.

As I freed them, one by one, Wynne healed and then briefly explained to each one what had happened.

Finally, I had opened all of the cocoons and Wynne had healed every one. All were present and accounted for. I then thought out to Shale. _Everyone is safe. If you are able, come down into the cave. We need to kill the_ _Spider_ _Queen._

I heard crashing sounds again as he smashed them into an opening big enough for him to get through. Then he thumped down the path to find us in the corner of the cave.

“It is ready to fight? I want to crush this Spider Queen. Her… young tried to cover me in webs, but I squashed them all.”

I was about to give the “let’s go” order when I realized that no one was armed. I knew we mages could still fight without our staves, but our spells would be significantly weaker.

“Zevran… how fast do you think you could get back to camp and get some weapons?” I whispered.

“How far?”

Once you leave this cave, it would be about a half kilometer down the passage to your right.”

“I won’t be able to carry everyone’s weapons. I can get my daggers, Leli’s bow, and maybe Alistair’s sword… but not his shield.”

“Fine. We can still cast our magic and Shale… well… he can squash. Hurry back as quickly as you can. I don’t know how much longer the Spider Queen will stay hidden.”

“Assuming I do not get ambushed on the way there or back, I will return swiftly.” He disappeared into stealth.

No sooner did Zevran leave when I head clicking and hissing again. The nest webs parted and the Spider Queen emerged.

“Maker’s Breath!” Leliana exclaimed.

“That is a really… big… spider…” Alistair gulped.

“Ssssssso! You t-t-t-thought to t-t-t-trick me?!”

 _I could still understand her?_ _How was that possible?_

“You will pay for ssssssst-t-t-tealing my meal! You will die for hurt-t-t-ting my children!”

“You will regret taking my friends!”

“Ah, Kylara? Are you… talking to the spider?” Alistair asked, a confused look on his face.

Before I could answer, she shrieked, “At-t-t-tack!”

I shouted out my fire spell, but for something so huge, the Spider Queen moved surprisingly quick. She jumped up to the cave ceiling and then disappeared into a crevice.

_How in the void did she get her bulk into that?!_

From her decorated nest, dozens of smaller spiders swarmed out. They were not as big as the ones Shale had killed earlier, but there were a lot of them. Morrigan focused a cone of cold spell to freeze some, I burned more on my half of the cave, and Shale stomped and smashed any spiders that got past our spells. Wynne was conserving her mana and energy since she had done so much healing earlier.

The Spider Queen hissed from the shadows, “T-t-t-tresssssssspassers! Killersssssss! Agresssssssors! Asssssssailant-t-t-ts! Murderersssssss!”

“I’ve heard enough, this ends now! Show yourself, you ugly bitch!”

Instead of her coming down, more spider young crawled out of the nest. I was able to fry some with a lightning spell but could feel my spell effectiveness waning. I could see that Morrigan was having similar problems. _Please hurry back Zev! We won’t be able to keep this up much longer!_

“I feel so useless just standing back here!” Alistair railed in frustration.

“I do as well,” Sten said with a glower. “I’d try to punch them, like Shale, but I am doubtful that would have much effect on these vermin.”

Shale turned and gave a grin. “The Qunari could pick up a rock and smash them, couldn’t it?”

“We all could pick up rocks and throw them!” Leliana declared. “Why didn’t we think of that sooner?!”

In the next lull, still hearing the Queen hissing and shrieking from above, Alistair and Leliana picked up some smaller fist-sized rocks, while Sten picked up a much larger one. He gave me a half smile.

Of course, right then, Zev popped out of stealth. “Grabbed what I could. Leli!” He tossed her her bow and quiver. She dropped her rocks and quickly strapped it on and pulled out an arrow and nocked it. “Alistair!” Zev handed him the sword. “Morrigan and Wynne, I got you some of those lyrium potions.” They accepted them and drank them quick. “Kylara, I have your staff, at least. I could not risk carrying another potion for fear they would break.” Zevran then pulled his daggers out and swung them from side to side loosely.

“That’s fine. This will make a difference!” I turned to Oghren was was still just standing there. “Oghren, pick up the rocks Alistair was going to use! At least it’s better than nothing!”

He grumbled but did as I had told him.

“Okay, Queenie… Now we mean business! You hurt my friends and now it’s payback time!”

“She’s still talking to the spider?” Oghren shook his head. “I think our Warden here has lost it!”

“Your arroganssssssse is int-t-t-tolerable! Very well, I will deal wit-t-t-th you myssssssself!”

She dropped from the ceiling, landing in front of us. Her massive fangs dripped poison and she hissed angrily.

Leliana fired an arrow at the same time Morrigan cast a lightning spell, but again, the Queen shocked us with her speed. She jumped from wall to wall of the cave and landed behind Zevran.

“Watch out!” I shouted. Zevran vanished into stealth again just as the Spider Queen lashed out. I could just sense that Zev had barely managed to dodge the blow. He reappeared, rolled under the Queen and stabbed upwards with his daggers, but yet again, she jumped. I quickly realized we were never going to get a hit on her like this.

I shouted out, “Ùine mall!” <Slow time!>. Everything seemed to stop, but unlike the experience with Ruck, no one was actually frozen in place. They were all just moving incredibly slow. I was able to move freely, however, and could see where the Queen was about to land. I had to get everything set quickly now, as the time spell was very draining on my mana. I aimed my next spell where the Queen should land and said, “A 'losgadh gaothan!” _It should_ _ignite_ _just as she lands_ , I thought.

Next, I carefully moved both Zevran and Alistair into a position that should allow their weapons to hit the Queen, once I resumed time. I did the same with Leliana’s bow and arrow.

Eventually, I had to release the time spell. “Ùine, ath-thòiseachadh!” <Time, restart!>

As I sank to my knees in exhaustion, I watched as my flame tornado hit the Spider Queen just as I had predicted. Alistair’s sword and Zevran’s daggers both struck her bloated abdomen. They both then leaped back in surprise, their weapons still sunk deep into her.

Leliana’s arrow also hit, but unfortunately, it was not the fatal blow I’d hoped for.

The Queen hissed as my fire tornado burned her, “What-t-t-t trickery isssssss t-t-t-thisssssss?” She leapt out of the fire. Fortunately, the damage we inflicted had slowed her down considerably.

Sten hurled his large rock and Leliana shot more arrows, yet she still didn’t die.

“Shale…” I grated out. “Do you think you can grab her and hold her in place?”

“I can try.”

He walked slowly towards her. At first, I wondered why, but then it was made clear she didn’t see him as a threat. I guess she hadn’t seen Shale squash her young. He got to the side of her and then quickly grabbed her around her abdomen.

She screeched but was unable to get out of Shale’s grasp.

I then clutched my necklace and with the last of my energy, gasped out, “Die… bitch! Tha mi a 'cur mallachd ort le pian, fulangas, agus bàs! <I curse you with pain, suffering, and death!>

Wynne immediately realized what I was doing and channeled a healing spell on me. I knew I’d likely get an earful from her when this was finished.

The Spider Queen started shrieking and convulsing from my curse. It hurt me as well, being the nature of the spell, but Wynne’s healing kept me from feeling the kind of pain the Queen was.

Finally, the Spider Queen was dead; dissolved into a puddle of black goo. Both Alistair and Zevran retrieved their weapons, making faces at the slime dripping off of them.

“I don’t know what just happened, but I’m glad it’s over,” Alistair said as he swung his sword hard through the air, trying to get the spider goop off. Then he turned and saw me on the ground. “Kylara!”

“She’ll be all right,” Wynne said. “She did have to use a lot of mana to save us all. We need to get her back to camp and get her both some lyrium and healing potions.”

“I’ll hold your sword, Alistair,” Leliana said.

“Thanks, Leliana.” He handed her the blade and then he came over and scooped me into his arms. “Now let’s get the void out of here!”

 

Back at camp, Morrigan was able to relight what little wood remained from our campfire. Alistair lay me on my bedroll and took the lyrium and healing potions Wynne offered from her pack.

Once I had swallowed them, making a face at the bitter aftertaste, I started to feel a little better. I knew I’d need some sleep to recover more. However, before I could get any, the questions flooded in all at once.

“So what exactly happened?”

“How did you find out we had been taken?”

“Why were you talking to a spider?”

“How did my daggers hit that spider when I was nowhere near her?”

“What actually killed her?”

I held up my hands for silence. I then proceeded to explain the whole story. How I had gone for a brief walk and how after speaking to Shale realized that something was wrong back at camp. How I had turned myself into a spider and followed them to their nest. How Shale had followed my voice commands and how he had startled the spiders by smashing their cave from the outside. How I had then dragged their cocoons to safety and freed them one by one.

When I started explaining, however, that I was able to hear the spiders and the Queen talking, most of my friends looked at me with disbelief.

“Kylara,” Morrigan said. “What you are saying… ‘tis impossible. Animals do not speak. I have told you this from when I was transformed in the Wilds.”

“I don’t know what I can say to make you all believe me, but they did speak! I was able to even speak back to the Queen in their… ‘language’.”

“Perhaps they were not normal spiders…” Wynne suggested. “We are in ancient dwarven tunnels, filled with vile darkspawn corruption and magic. I suppose there is the possibility it could have… altered them, somehow?”

“Even if that were true, Wynne, she claims she could still hear it ‘talking’ to her after she was human again,” Leliana said. “All I heard was clicking and hissing.” She caught me glaring at her. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, Kylara! It is just hard to… understand.”

“Well, the majority of us are not mages,” Alistair said slowly, “and magic is… complex. Also, Kylara’s magic has grown a lot in these last few months.”

“Hrm, speaking of magic,” Zevran piped up, “how was it that I was on one side of the cave and then in the blink of an eye, I was suddenly stabbing my daggers into that spider?”

I sighed. “She was moving so fast, I had to do something to give us an advantage. I used a slow time spell. Then I moved you and Alistair closer to where that Queen was about to land. I aimed Leliana’s bow at her, and cast that fire spell to go off at the same time.”

“So that explains it!” Alistair exclaimed. “I too wondered how I had gotten there so quick.”

“And then you cursed her to die,” Wynne frowned slightly. “That kind of magic has consequences, you know.”

“Yes, I know, Wynne. Thank you for helping me be spared from the worst of the backlash.”

“Curses are very dark magic, indeed,” Morrigan said. “’Tis surprising that you would resort to such a spell, especially after all you had done before it.”

“I really **hate** spiders,” I muttered. “And that one just… wouldn’t… bloody die!”

That Wynne actually started chuckling at that actually kind of surprised me. I had been fully expecting a long lecture from her about how I wasn’t supposed to use that kind of spell and how I had nearly drained all of my energy in the process. Morrigan and Leliana joined in the laughter. It was soon followed by Alistair and everyone else.

I turned a bit red with embarrassment, but the laughter was infectious, and I started giggling too.

After the laughter died down a bit, I said, “I think we should all try and get a little more rest after that ordeal. Then we will need to press onwards.”

“Who will keep watch now?” Sten asked.

“I will,” Shale answered. “It did bring up a valid point to me earlier. I have no need of sleep. I can keep watch for the remainder of our time down here.”

“Thank you, Shale,” Wynne said. “That is very kind of you.”

“You are… welcome,” he replied. “I will wake everyone if anything happens. For now, get some rest.”

“I will have to stay up with you, Shale,” Alistair said softly. “While you can watch out for spiders and other vermin, only Kylara and I can sense the darkspawn. So one of us will have to keep watch with you.”

“Very well.”

I knew it was selfish of me, but part of me had hoped Alistair would have forgotten that little detail. I really missed having him hold me when we slept. Still, he was right. It was our duty… but it didn’t stop me from softly crying myself to sleep after I lay down.

 

After we broke camp and left, Alistair could see that I wasn’t quite my usual self.

Though we were on the move, he pulled me aside for a moment.

“Are you all right, love? You are recovered from last night?”

“I’m fine,” I mumbled. He gave me a look which clearly told me he didn’t believe that for one second. I sighed. “I guess it’s just… I am feeling so… lonely.”

“I know I can’t be with you all the time right now, but I am still here.” Alistair squeezed my hand gently. “Hopefully, we’ll find Branka soon and be able to get back to the surface.”

I gave a wan smile and stroked his stubble covered cheek. Even though he was unable to shave, he was still undeniably handsome. “I almost feel like I’ve forgotten what the sun looks like, we’ve been down here so long. How many kilometers of rock are above us right now?”

“I try not to think about that,” Alistair grimaced.

Just then there was a shout from ahead of us. Alistair and I quickly ran to the head of the group.

“We’ve just about reached the end of Ortan Thaig,” Oghren said as we approached. “But we think we’ve stumbled across another of Branka’s camps.”

Indeed, despite the massive amount of webs and destruction (seems the spiders had raided this camp for more metal and paper), there were the distinct scorch marks of old campfires.

“Kylara?” Wynne called out to me. “I think I may have found something.”

I walked over to her and brushed the thick layer of dust and webs off of a long rectangular object.

“This looks like an old journal!” I exclaimed. “The cover is heavily damaged, but there still appears to be some text… but I can’t read it. Seems to be written in dwarvish.”

“Lemme see,” Oghren brushed past me, brushed more webs off, and looked at the remains of the journal. “Hmm… ‘We found evidence today that the Anvil is not here in Ortan Thaig… Perhaps Caridin did keep it in his home thaig instead? We will go there and check next’.” He continued perusing the journal for a bit longer, then said, “Seems she had an idea where to find Caridin Thaig. **17** There are instructions and a crudely drawn map. Wonder why she’d leave that information behind though?”

“Perhaps she thought someone would eventually try to find her, or follow her?”

“Maybe,” Oghren grunted. He tore the map page out of the journal. “C’mon. We’ll follow this and find Caridin’s Thaig.”

 

I was guessing it had been about three days since we’d left Ortan Thaig. While we blissfully had not had to fight many spiders and deepstalkers (they truly were vicious and cunning vermin), the darkspawn were starting to become more prominent. We’d almost gotten ambushed one evening when I had nodded off for a brief moment. Had Shale not shaken me awake, I would not sensed the darkspawn in time.

Finally, we found the remains of the thaig.

It was nowhere near as well preserved as Ortan Thaig. Earthquakes and several volcanic eruptions had destroyed a good part of it. After spending the entire “day” walking around, searching, and backtracking the thaig, we had almost come up empty. However, in the last house we searched we finally found another old beat up journal. Oghren came over to translate what had been written again. “Okay, she wrote, ‘The Anvil was not here and my people are getting frustrated with me. They do not seem to understand why we need it so badly. They call me obsessed. Even my own beloved Hespith is starting to turn against me!’ Beloved Hespith?! What in the – ”

“Oghren, don’t sidetrack please,” I said softly.

He growled, “Fine… now then. ‘No matter. I will find where Caridin hid the Anvil! We move south now, to Bownammar… the Dead Trenches. The Anvil must be there! I do not care that the trenches are darkspawn breeding grounds! Once I have the Anvil…’ So she did end up going there. Figures.”

“Anything else?”

“Yeah, yeah… don’t get your smalls in a twist. ‘I leave this here in case I do not make it. Perhaps someone will follow in my footsteps and find my last words. If I fail, perhaps they will find the Anvil… for if it remains lost, so do we all. If I do not return, someone tell Oghren… No. What I have to say to him should be for his ears alone. This is my final farewell’.”

“That’s it? No other clues except that we need to go to the Dead Trenches?” Alistair grumbled. “Wonderful…”

I sighed and turned back to Oghren, who had a strange look on his face. “She was thinkin’ about me. Heh, I knew she still cared. Ol’ softy.” He pulled out his flask and finished whatever was in it. Then he tossed it to the ground. “So the Dead Trenches, huh? They say that the darkspawn ‘nest’ there… whole herds of ‘em. But if that’s where Branka went, then that’s where I’m going too.”

 

Four days later…

We were finally approaching the outskirts of the Dead Trenches. Tensions were running high and moods were foul. Even Alistair and I were snapping at each other, which made us feel even worse afterwards. Darkspawn induced nightmares were becoming a nightly event for the both of us as well. Food was also becoming scarce, as was wood for campfires. We ended up having to camp closer to lava pools than I would have liked. Oghren showed us that the nugs – which Leliana had thought to be nothing more than cute critters – were going to become our primary food from here on out. Once you caught them and prepped them, they had to be boiled. Oghren would let them soak in lava heated pools of water. Then they had to be roasted. Oghren again, utilized the cooler, crusted lava as the “oven” to cook them. Cooked in this method unfortunately rendered them tough.

The ones I had tried when we had had our dinner at Harrowmont’s manor (which felt like ages ago) had been… interesting, but these were almost inedible. At first, Leliana refused when Oghren tried to offer her some, but when we ran out of deep mushrooms and travel rations, she had no choice. It was eat the nugs or starve. She cried the first time she ate them.

The day we finally approached the entrance of the Dead Trenches had my nerves jangling like crazy. The darkspawn presence was very intense, making my skin crawl. I could see Alistair feeling the same way.

We slowly approached the edge of a cliff. I peered cautiously over the edge and then immediately recoiled back in horror. Alistair just caught me before I fell over.

“This is worse than any nightmare,” I choked out.

“W-what is it, Kylara? What did you see?” Wynne asked softly.

“Darkspawn. But how many I can’t say. Thousands, maybe even tens of thousands. Much more than what we saw at Ostagar.”

Leliana peered over the edge herself and then came back slowly. “Both of your eyes…” she murmured as she looked at Alistair and me. “They are glowing very brightly.”

All of a sudden a loud whooshing of wings had us all diving for cover. The following roar had us covering our ears. A massive undead dragon flew down and landed on the bridge we needed to cross to get to the other side of the Dead Trenches.

“Is that… the archdemon?” Zevran asked shakily. I had never heard him sound scared before.

The archdemon turned its head and its dead, milky white eyes looked in our direction.

“Down!” Alistair whispered quickly. We all flattened ourselves against the ground. For once, even Sten didn’t argue. Shale was still standing, but he stayed frozen in place.

The archdemon snarled and its huge snout sniffed the air. Its head whipped back and forth. It then let out a large gout of flames and roared again. With a flap of its wings, it took off from the bridge and flew down the canyon of the Dead Trenches.

After several moments, we all slowly and quietly got to our feet.

“H-how was it that it didn’t sense us?” I murmured.

“I had a little bit of that liquid that Flemeth gave me at the start of our quest,” Morrigan replied with what sounded to be her usual condescending tone, but when I looked at her, she looked as shaken as the rest of us. “I tossed it onto the bridge when we… took cover. It may have been just enough to overwhelm its sense of smell.”

“That… or it very well could have been toying with us,” Alistair muttered. Morrigan started to frown at him, but he then said, “However, that was quick thinking, Morrigan. Thank you.”

She seemed taken aback by that. “You’re… welcome.”

“I thought the archdemon had gone south, like Ruck had said,” Wynne was still quivering. “So what was it doing here? There isn’t more than one, is there?”

“Maker, let’s hope not!” Alistair said nervously. “One is bad enough!”

“With that wingspan, it could easily fly distances that we could only dream of traveling in a day,” I said. “It may have come back here to… gather more darkspawn.”

“It is most likely correct in that assumption,” Shale said.

I carefully glanced over the cliff edge again. “The darkspawn are on the move. They are moving in the direction the archdemon flew.”

“As long as they are movin’ away from us,” Oghren replied with a scowl. “Should make our job of finding Branka easier. Let’s get going.”

 

We cautiously approached the bridge that the archdemon had landed on. Looking to the right and left revealed nothing out of the ordinary, but just as we were about to cross, a huge swarm of darkspawn streamed out of a large building on the other side of the chasm and began running towards us, shouting their war-cry.

From behind us, another loud bellow came from a group of dwarves. It looked we were going to get caught in the middle of the battle that was about to ensue, so we all got our weapons out and charged the darkspawn on the bridge ourselves.

Despite the tight confines of fighting on the bridge, we plowed through the darkspawn as if they were nothing more than a minor annoyance.

Once we had cleared the bridge, the dwarven soldiers we had seen charging earlier crossed over. Their leader bowed to Alistair and me.

“Thank you, Wardens. No sense in your heads, but you’ve got skill and I’ll give you credit for backbone. You all have dug a line through the spawn and gained us back the ground we had recently lost. Name’s Kardol. I am the current commander of the Legion of the Dead.”

“How’d you know we were Grey Wardens?” Alistair asked.

“Well, for one, your armor is a dead giveaway,” the dwarf said with a smirk. Alistair turned red. He apparently had forgotten the griffon symbol on his armor. “Secondly, only y’all would be so crazy to fight the way you just did.”

“Only Alistair and I are the Wardens,” I explained. “Everyone else traveling and fighting with us are good friends helping our cause. I’ve heard a little about you all from people in Orzammar. Can you tell me a little bit more about the Legion?”

Kardol nodded. “We die in the eyes of our brothers and sisters so we can fight without fear. It offers redemption for the promise of the greatest sacrifice.” He gave a grim smile. “That’s all you need to know. To say more invites judgment… or worse, imitation.”

“Have you heard of the Anvil of the Void?” I asked.

Kardol shrugged. “Like dusters have heard of respect. Never seen it and if it does exist, it wasn’t meant for the likes of us. I suppose that means you’re down here looking for Branka, huh? Well, as long as you’re looking for Paragons, you may as well look for the Anvil… and endless lyrium while you're at it.”

“Are you at all concerned about the Blight?”

He scoffed. “Why? The other kingdoms only give a shit when the darkspawn march in the light. But we fight them all of our sodding lives, Blight or no. They are always here, always pushing. Your nightmares are our everyday. Our resolve is what gives you a rest in between Blights. A surge on the surface actually gives **us** a break… So when the time comes, I‘ll care for a good dwarven reason. Sod the rest.”

I nodded politely and then turned to leave. While I wasn’t happy about his arrogance, I could understand it.

“Let’s go,” I said.

 

“Welcome to Bownammar, City of the Dead,” Oghren said with a grim tone as we approached the fortress-like building. “If’n the Anvil is gonna be anywhere, it’s gotta be here… somewhere.”

Despite the fact that the massive horde of darkspawn in the chasm had moved on, I could still feel plenty of them in the ruins beyond. There were two immense iron doors which apparently had been the original entrance to the city, but it was clear they would no longer work. I could see how earthquakes had shifted the foundation of the entire structure.

“How are we going to get in?” Leliana asked.

“I’m sure the darkspawn have dug a tunnel around here somewhere. We jus’ gotta find it!”

 

Three more days…

We had been combing every nook and cranny of Bownammar looking for any evidence of Branka or the Anvil. So far, we’d come up empty. We were running out of lyrium and health potions now and having to rest far more because of it. Darkspawn, however, don’t keep a schedule, so we often found our rests interrupted by attacking mobs.

Finally, we found a solution. There were plenty of crypts in the City of the Dead, so once we had cleared one out of all the darkspawn and disposed of their corpses, we would close the door and Shale would use his bulk to block it. Then we actually would have some time to rest.

Food was still an issue and there were not many nugs to be found in the city. Even when we did find some, there was nowhere to really cook them properly. Morrigan had taken to looking very carefully and managed to find some edible lichen for us to eat. Water too was scarce, but we would occasionally find hot springs in the area where the city met up with natural cave systems and darkspawn dug tunnels. I no longer wasted my mana trying to cool it. We just had to wait for it to do so on its own.

One day, we managed to come across a sickly bronto. The fact that it was even still alive down here surprised me, as there was no fodder for it to eat. It must have somehow fallen into one of the many darkspawn tunnels and gotten lost. When I saw it had a broken leg that pretty much answered the question.

I knew the dwarves used brontos as a food source because we had had some of their meat at Harrowmont’s. I quickly conferred with everyone and they all agreed that we should put the beast out of its misery and use it for food.

After we had killed and butchered the beast, we ransacked the city for any type of wood. Alistair and Sten eventually found some old broken ballistas, so we used the wood to make several large bonfires. We cooked some of the meat outright, and the rest we spread out on coals to dry out for jerky.

With the smell of cooking meat, I was surprised that we didn’t somehow attract a horde of darkspawn. But I was glad that we had the peace and quiet. After eating some bronto steaks, we ended up with enough dried leftovers that – eaten sparingly – would last us for some time.

 

After breaking camp the next morning, we left the crypt we had slept in and made our way into another tunnel. For awhile we traveled in silence, but it didn’t last long. We rounded a corner and ran into a large group of darkspawn. I berated myself for not sensing them sooner, but with their constant presence here, it did make it more difficult for Alistair and I to pinpoint their locations.

Once the battle was finished, we decided to press on for a little while longer. All of a sudden I heard a soft thud. When I turned, I was shocked to see Wynne was slowly trying to get back up.

“Wynne!” I ran back over to help her up.

“Unh, I… fell.”

“Are you all right?” I asked worriedly.

“For a moment there I thought I was… I thought it was all over…” she replied softly.

It seemed stupid to ask, as I was sure I knew what she was talking about, yet I still asked it. “Thought what was over?”

She sighed. “Everything. I… will explain once we set up camp later. Now is not the time.”

“All right. If you think that is best,” I murmured.

 

Once we had found another crypt and checked to make sure all was clear, we set up camp again. As before, Shale sat with his back against the door to prevent anything from getting in. Since there were no old wood coffins in this crypt, I gathered some old bones and rags from the ground to make torches. I used my simple grease spell to provide fuel and then ignited them. I gave one to Alistair, who stuck it into an old torch bracket, then I took the other and sat off to the side with Wynne, who had requested privacy for our talk.

I had brought over some of the bronto jerky we had made the other day, along with some edible lichen that Morrigan had found. I handed Wynne some and she nibbled on it.

“Are you feeling a little better?” I asked. “You had me really worried when you collapsed.”

“Just a bit. This excursion has been particularly hard on me and I am not as young as the rest of you.”

“But I have a feeling that what you are about to tell me isn’t related to your age, am I right?” I asked.

“It seems so long ago, but something happened to me at the Tower before you came along. Do you remember my apprentice, Petra?” I nodded. “She had encountered a demon in the Tower and it would have killed her, had I not intervened. I saved her life that day… but I… did not survive that attack.”

My eyes got large. “B-but you are here with us now!”

“When I fought the demon to rescue Petra, it drained all of my energy and will during the battle and when I was done I found I no longer had the strength to keep my heart beating.” She closed her eyes for a moment, then continued. “I remember my life ebbing away; everything receded from me… I was enveloped in complete, impenetrable darkness. But then I sensed a presence, enfolding me and cradling me, whispering quietly to me. I was being… held back, firmly, but gently, as a mother would a child eager to slip from her grasp. I then felt life and warmth flowing through me again. I began to be aware of small sounds and the discomfort of my hip pressing against the cold stone floor.”

“So… you were never fully dead then?”

“You are aware that the Fade contains spirits both benevolent and malicious.” Again, I nodded. “The kind spirits seldom make themselves known because they want nothing from mortals… unlike demons.

“You were saved by a spirit?”

“Yes. Without its aid, I would be dead. It is with me… even now, bonded to me. But you see, I am supposed to be dead. The spirit is keeping me in this world and this is not the way of things. Perhaps the spirit did not expect this, but it is weakening, gradually. I am… living on borrowed time.”

“I guess… that we will just need to make the best of what time you have left, then.”

“Yes, I know. There are days when I feel well and strong, even down here, but that last battle really took a lot out of me… and the spirit.”

“Do you want me to tell the others?”

“You may tell Alistair if you wish, but unless it needs to come up, then I’d rather keep it between us.”

“Very well, Wynne. Try and get some rest. Hopefully, this will all be over soon.”

“Yes, let us hope.”

 

Our fourth day in Bownammar and its outlying areas we exited a tunnel to find ourselves in a long hallway littered with rotting meat and flesh. The smell was awful. Just then, I heard a voice. It seemed to be chanting a… poem? We listened carefully as we made our way through the area as quickly as we could.

 

“First day they come and catch everyone.

Second day they beat us and eat some for meat.

 

Third day the men are all gnawed on again.

Fourth day we wait and fear for our fate.

 

Fifth day they return and it’s another girl's turn.

Sixth day her screams we hear in our dreams.

 

Seventh day she grew as into her mouth they spew.

Eighth day we hated as she is violated.

 

Ninth day she grins and devours her kin.

Now she does feast, as she has become the beast.”

 

 

Finally, we found the speaker.

“Ancestor’s tits! Hespith? Is that you?” Oghren exclaimed. “What has happened to you? Where is Branka?!”

The woman, who had been crouched on the floor, slowly stood. She twitched and her head was held at an odd angle. I could see that her skin was covered in dark blotches and her eyes were filmy and dull. Her clothes were in tatters and she had blood, both fresh and dried all over her hands and skin.

“No… I swore not to speak of it, not to think of it. La… la… la… la… la… I will not speak or hear any more about Branka.”

“What is wrong with her?” I whispered to myself, but the woman, Hespith, heard me.

“What’s this? A human? Bland and unlikely,” she muttered. “Feeding time brings only clan and kin. I am cruel to myself. You are a dream of strangers’ faces and open doors.” She looked down and scratched at the wounds on her arms.

“Is this darkspawn corruption? It looks… different.” Alistair said quietly.

“She is not well,” Wynne replied softly to us. “Besides the obvious outward signs, she appears to be running a high fever.”

Hespith turned again at the sound of our voices. “First day the come and catch everyone…”

“What is that chant?”

“It’s w-what I’ve seen. What I will become. I force it into verse so that it is fantasy… unreal. That is the only place I can hide because they make me… they make me eat… and then… I too will change.”

“What change? Who is doing this to you and why?”

“Corruption! The men did that! Their wounds festered and their minds left. They are like dogs, marched ahead, the first to die. But not the women. Not me. Not Laryn. We are not cut. We are fed. Friends and flesh and blood and bile and… and…” She twitched and shook more. “They do what they are allowed to do. They do what they think they must. All I could do was wish Laryn went first. I wished it upon her so that I would be spared. But I had to watch. I had to see the change. How do you endure that? How did Branka endure?”

“When did you last see Branka?” Alistair asked, trying to show sympathy, but clearly disturbed by what Hespith was telling us.

“No more than a few breaths, but longer than an eon. It was long enough. Long enough to miss her… to love her again… to hate her more than ever.”

“A lover in the dark? No wonder she left you, Oghren,” Zevran gave him a half-smile.

“Well, that explains a lot,” Oghren muttered. “If’n I knew Branka had those kind of interests, I could’ve made some adjustments…”

“There is too much darkness here. The Anvil, it is in the darkness, surrounded by it, pulling Branka in…”

“We are looking for Branka. We can take you with us…”

“They spit blood and bile into my mouth. I would rather die than bring that with me… then have her see me… like this. Her lover and I could not turn her. Forgive her… but no, she cannot be forgiven. Not for what she did. Not for what she has become.”

“What did she do Hespith? What did Branka do?”

“I will not speak of her anymore! Of what she did, of what we have become!”

“Can we help at all?” I asked.

“No. No, you can’t. There’s nothing left. There is a body and there is hope… and both are turning. They come. They… they vomit, they violate, and they chant. They scream, oh, how they scream… Then the change comes.”

It was clear that whatever was happening to Hespith, she was too far gone for recovery. I hated this despair. “Do you want us to… end it for you?”

“End it?” she gave a brief hollow laugh. “I am… full of them. Only a step away from Laryn! I dream I am away, but real safety? That means accepting… and I will not! I will **not** turn! I will not become what I have seen! Not Laryn, not Branka!”

Hespith shoved me away with a lot more force than I would have expected from her. Had Alistair not been standing behind me, I would have fallen over. She stumbled away into the darkness.

“Shouldn’t we go after her?” Leliana asked. “She is hurt and sick!”

“I do not think there is anything left of her to save,” I said, rubbing my stomach where she had pushed me.

“There is nowhere left for us to go, except for the way she went,” Sten said. “The way back will not lead us to where we need to be.”

So we left the small room that Hespith had been in. The doorway she had fled through led to another vast cavern opening and I saw the other side of the broken bridge from where we had first entered this insanity… How long had it been? A week? More?

From everywhere and nowhere we heard Hespith’s voice echoing.

“She became obsessed… That is the word, but it is not strong enough. Blessed stone, there was nothing left of her but the Anvil.”

From the darkness, two ogres stumbled out and started attacking us. Shale, Sten, Leliana, and I focused on one, while Alistair, Oghren, Zevran, and Morrigan took care of the other. Wynne stayed back and healed when necessary. Once they were dead, I heard Hespith again.

“We tried to escape, but they found us. They took us all… turned us.”

We found another door on the left of this vast open cavern. I tried to open it, but it was locked. I heard Hespith laugh cruelly.

“The men they kill… they’re merciful. But the women, they want. They want to touch… to mold… to change until you are filled with them.”

Since the one door was locked, we moved down a bit further into the cavern. There was yet another door beyond and we went inside. Inside, there were statues and tombs all over the room. While not exactly comforting – being in yet another crypt – at least there was the respite from hearing Hespith’s creepy voice. We explored the room a bit. In the back was a pedestal with a full suit of dragonbone plate armor with the same symbol that we had seen on Kardol’s armor

“That is the Legion of the Dead’s armor,” Oghren said. “Better’n what I’ve got on.”

“Are you thinking of taking it? Perhaps it has been left here for a reason?” I said with a slight frown.

“Bah! It’s just gatherin’ dust in this old crypt! I could at least put it to good use!”

“But you are not part of the Legion of the Dead. What if Kardol sees you wearing that when we get out of here?”

“Sod ‘im,” Oghren grunted. “Now turn around and lemme get this armor on… unless you wanna see more than you bargained for!”

We all walked off towards the front of this memorial room leaving Oghren in the back to put on the armor.

“Something about this doesn’t feel right,” I murmured.

“I agree with you,” Alistair softly replied. “But Oghren is just plain stubborn sometimes.”

“Stubborn and disrespectful,” Wynne said sadly.

Just then we heard Oghren clomping back over to us. He had his chest puffed out with pride, showing off his “new” armor. Suddenly there was a cold blast of air and several torches in the room went out. Ghostly apparitions walked out of the walls and surrounded Oghren, who grabbed his battleaxe.

“I told you this was a bad idea…” I started to say, but Oghren cut me off.

“Oh, shaddup Warden, and help me!”

Reluctantly, we all took up weapons and began attacking the ghosts. I kept feeling like I needed to apologize to them, though I knew that would make no difference.

Soon they were all gone. I had to admit I still found it a bit odd that we could “kill” ghosts, as by the definition, you’d think the physical couldn’t harm them.

“Ha! Told ya it’d be no big deal,” Oghren said.

I just shook my head. “There is nothing else in here. Let’s go. Maybe that other door will open now?”

No sooner did we leave the crypt, when Hespith spoke… as though we had never left. I still had no idea where she was speaking to us from.

“They took Laryn. They made her eat the others, our friends. She tore off her own husband’s face and drank his blood.”

“Hespith, please!” I begged the voice in the dark. “Stop this madness!”

There was silence for a moment and I thought I had gotten through to her, but then she started up again.

“And while she ate… she grew. She swelled and turned grey… and she smelled like them. They remade her in their image. Then she made more of them…”

I heard a metallic clang and saw a key had been thrown to the ground in front of the doors we couldn’t open before. Maybe if we used the key we could finally escape this nightmare. I ran to the door and stuck the key into the lock.

The doors opened and we all went inside. I shut the doors behind us, but Hespith still got in the final word.

“Broodmother.”

“Dare we even ask what a broodmother is?” Zevran muttered.

“I don’t think I want to know,” I replied, my skin crawling.

Then the smell hit us. I started gagging. So did everyone else.

I took a deep breath with my mouth and said, “Tha mi a 'gairm air cumhachd an adhair agus gaoth airson dìon!” <I call on the power of the air and wind for protection!> Then I touched my head. A bubble of air formed around my neck and head, blocking out the stench. I quickly walked around and did the same for all of my friends, until we were all subsequently protected.

“Slow, deep breaths everyone,” I instructed.

“Oh, thank you, Kylara!” Wynne exclaimed.

“This is one time I do not mind your magic touching me, kadan,” Sten said. “I do not know what is causing that smell, but I am glad I no longer have to breathe it in.”

Oghren came up and slapped me on my back. “Damn, that was burnin’ off my nose hairs! Thanks, Warden!”

“I do not understand. Why did it feel the need to cast this spell?” Shale asked.

“Trust me, Shale,” Alistair chuckled. “Be glad you don’t have a sense of smell here.”

We carefully walked down a narrow hallway, away from the doors. The hall abruptly ended and it turned into a cave. But there was something wrong with the walls of the cave. I reached out and touched one of them. It felt… like flesh. I quickly jerked my hand away and to my horror, it was covered in blood. The ground too was also covered in rotting fleshy patches. I could only imagine that the smell was even worse now, so I was glad for my air spell.

As we slowly continued on (as there was really nowhere else to go), I started hearing noises now. Groans, growls, and the sound of something slapping the fleshy walls. When we turned the last corner I nearly blacked out.

It was a vision out of my worst darkspawn nightmares. I had seen it before, but not in full view. It had always been shadowed. But there was no mistaking the huge, bloated, tentacled behemoth in front of us now.

 **This** was a broodmother. This is what Laryn had become. This is what Hespith was going to turn into.

The former dwarf, Laryn, was now about four meters tall and nearly as wide. Her grey skin was covered in gashes and boils that oozed blood and a foul green slime. Coming out of the lower half of her body and also from parts of the fleshy floor were tentacles that ranged from about twenty-five centimeters thick to more than a meter thick. She flailed them around the room, slamming them into the walls and ground. Her short stubby arms waved in the air and her blind eyes turned towards us as she suddenly sensed our presence. She screamed.

“Maker preserve us!” Leliana whispered in fear.

“Vashedan…” Sten muttered.

We saw an exit tunnel just to the left of the broodmother.

“Run…” Alistair whispered urgently.

We all broke out in a fast run. I was holding onto Wynne’s hand. But the broodmother was not going to let go so easily. She slammed her tentacles into the ground and they burst back out of the ground right in front of the exit tunnel, blocking our escape.

“Shit!”

The broodmother made a noise that sounded like its version of laughter… but it was… wrong.

There was no choice. We had to fight.

Wynne, Morrigan, and I all summoned shields for Sten, Oghren, and Alistair respectively. They all charged the broodmother, ducking and jumping the thrashing tentacles. Shale joined them, using his rocky fists to just bash them aside.

Leliana backed off to the far wall and began shooting arrows in rapid succession. Zevran had gone into stealth and was carefully trying to maneuver behind the broodmother.

I heard Sten shout a battlecry, “Katara, bas!” <Die, thing!>

“Morrigan!” I yelled over the din, “Can you cast grease trap under her?”

She nodded and did so. Then I summoned the most powerful fire spell that I could manage. The grease ignited and the broodmother screeched. Her tentacles lashed out in fury and knocked all our warriors back. Fortunately, their shields held.

The fire continued to burn and damage the broodmother. She shrieked, the sound loud and reverberating throughout the cave.

Several genlocks and hurlocks swarmed in to protect their “mother”.

We now ended up focusing on individual groups of darkspawn. I had just killed a genlock when I heard a cry from behind me. Zevran had been caught and was being squeezed by one of the broodmother’s tentacles. I could see it poisoning him. I channeled a lightning spell at the base of the tentacle that held him. The broodmother bellowed in pain and it released Zevran. He fell to the ground.

I ran up to him, dodging the other tentacles. “Zev!” When he didn’t respond I grabbed him under his arms and quickly dragged him back towards Wynne. She quickly cast a quick healing spell on him. Then he coughed weakly.

“Zev? Are you okay?”

“Ugh, I’ll live, but I think I am out for the rest of this fight.”

“You stay here and rest. We’ll finish this!”

He nodded.

My fire spell had burned out on the broodmother, so I quickly recast it and then moved in to attack a shriek that had entered the battle.

Finally, all the individual darkspawn were dead and we renewed our attacks on the broodmother in earnest. Shield spells were recast as the warriors sliced with swords and battleaxe or punched with stone fists. Leliana’s arrows and elemental attacks from Morrigan and I further weakened her; her tentacles now waving feebly around. Alistair leaped over one that had swung in his direction, used his shield to bash another away, and then stabbed his sword deep into her thick neck. She gave a strangled cry and was no more.

The tentacles that had blocked our exit now fell to the ground limply. Sten went over to help Zevran up and we left the disgusting cave.

 

“That’s where they come from. That’s why they hate us. That’s why they need us. That’s why they take us. That’s why they feed us,” Hespith moaned from the shadows above. “But the true abomination… is not that it occurred, but that it was allowed. Branka, my love… The Stone has punished me, dream-friend. I am dying of something worse than death… Betrayal.” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 16 Spider attack scene obviously influenced by the same situation happening in The Hobbit (book or movie, take your pick). Now in the game, this does not happen… You just come across a group of spiders and their corrupted queen and battle them. What I wrote was just to add a bit more to the narrative. ^_^
> 
> 17 In the game, of course, there is no “Caridin Thaig”. I made it up to give my party more time down in the Deep Roads and to stretch the chapter out a bit.


	25. The Anvil of the Void and a New King for Orzammar (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After two long weeks in the Deep Roads, the group finally find Branka. She agrees to support Kylara... if Kylara retrieves the device known as The Anvil of the Void.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** Mature Content Ahead **

Two days had passed since we had killed the broodmother. We all looked horrible (and probably smelled worse). Everyone was keeping their distance from everyone else. Personal hygiene was all but impossible down here and not only were we sweaty, greasy, and filthy, but our clothes and armor were covered in blood and other gunk from the constant killing of darkspawn and other… things. As for my robe… _Screw getting a leatherworker to clean it! I am burning this once we get back to Orzammar!_ Alistair was sporting a full beard now and while part of me wanted to kiss him to see what it felt like, I didn’t feel like exposing him to my abominable breath.

For all practical purposes – after we had killed the broodmother – we had pretty much left Bownammar behind. We were now just exploring random tunnels and caves at this point.

The “morning” arrived. If I had been counting correctly from the time we’d entered the Deep Roads, we’d been underground for over two weeks now. I had no idea how Branka, or for that matter, **anyone** , could have survived for down here for two years! I was ready to well and truly give up. I was pretty sure if I suggested it, the majority of our group would agree with me; head back to Orzammar and call it a bust. Yet, I said nothing and we kept pushing on…

After a few hours of walking, there was yet another cave stretching open before us.

“If Branka is anywhere, it’ll have be here. This has to be it!” Oghren said. After hearing that from him for the last six caves we had explored, I no longer believed it.

No sooner did we enter this one, however, when metal gates suddenly slammed shut behind us.

Looking behind us, Alistair exclaimed, “What was that?!”

“Let me be blunt with you,” a new voice suddenly spoke. “After all this time, my tolerance for social graces is fairly limited. That doesn’t bother you, I hope.”

“Well, shave my back and call me an elf! Branka?! By the Stone, I barely recognized you!”

“Oghren. It figures you’d eventually find your way here. Hopefully, you can find your way back more easily.” She turned to face the rest of us. “And how shall I address you all? Hired swords of the latest lordling to come looking for me? Or are you all just immune to Oghren’s ale-breath?”

“Be respectful, woman! These two are Grey Wardens!” Oghren bellowed as he pointed at Alistair and me.

“Ah… so important errand runners, then? I suppose something serious has happened. Is Endrin dead? That seems most likely. He was on the old and wheezy side even two years ago.”

“Yes,” I replied. “He died just over a month ago and now the assembly is deadlocked in finding a new King. There is a Blight on the surface and we need the dwarves support.”

“Really? What of Trian?”

“Dead,” I said.

“And the middle one? Sebestyan?”

“Exiled to the Deep Roads. Most likely dead.”

“Well then, that leaves Bhelen. So why is the Assembly deadlocked? Why haven’t they just given the sodding crown to him?”

“On his deathbed, Endrin named Harrowmont as his successor.”

“See? This is why I left. This is why I don’t care about being a Paragon. Sodding politics. So what is **your** involvement in all of this, Warden? Why would a surfacer interested in our mess of a political system?” She looked at me shrewdly. “You must have a patron then. A highly-placed patron… and they must want something in particular from me. Now what might that be, I wonder…”

“I am here on Harromont’s behalf. He’d like you to supp – ”

“I don’t care if the Assembly puts a drunken bronto on the throne…”

“Why don’t you care?” Leliana asked. “They are still your people, are they not?”

“Because our protector, our great invention, the one thing that made our armies the envy of the world, is lost to the very darkspawn it should be fighting! The Anvil of the Void! The means by which the ancients forged their army of golems and held off the first archdemon ever to rise! It’s here! So close I can almost taste it!”

“So the female Paragon Smith does want to make more golems then?” Shale clenched his rocky fists together.

“Yes, I do! We need them to make us strong against the darkspawn again! You can join my army, golem. Help us regain our lost thaigs… our lost cities! Join me and help me crush the darkspawn! Help the dwarves be mighty once again!”

“Crushing darkspawn I do not mind, but joining an army?” Shale paused for a moment. “No. I think my time is better spent elsewhere.”

“Y-you… dare defy me, golem?” Branka glared at Shale. “When I get your control rod…”

Shale looked like he was about to tell her about his free will, so I quickly put my hand on his arm and shook my head subtly. Fortunately, Shale seemed to understand and kept his mouth shut.

“Getting back to the issue at hand, Branka. You want this Anvil. But you are here, so I am guessing there must be a catch, am I correct?”

She sneered at me. “Yes, you could say that. The Anvil lies on the other side of a gauntlet of traps designed by Caridin himself. My people and I have given body and soul to unlocking its secrets! This is what’s important. This has lasting meaning. If I succeed, the dwarven people benefit! Kings, politics… all that is transitory. I’ve given up everything and would sacrifice anything to get the Anvil!”

I sighed. She truly was completely and utterly obsessed. “Does that include Hespith and all the others of your house?”

Branka glowered at me. “Enough! If you want me to get involved with this imbecilic election, I must first have the Anvil. You get it for me and I will reward you with an army that no one will be able to stand against!”

“What has this place done to you, Branka?!” Oghren shouted. “I remember marrying a girl you could talk to for only a moment and see her brilliance!”

“I am your Paragon.” She then looked back at me. “Now, Warden. There is only one way out for you and your little group. Forward. Through Caridin’s gauntlet and out to where the Anvil waits.” She turned and left us standing there.

I looked behind us, where we had come in. The solid metal gate was definitely too thick, even with Shale and Sten’s strength. On the other side of this cave, there was a sheer drop-off into a massive lava lake below us.

“Looks like we have no choice but to follow her… for now.”

 

We made our way down a narrow passage, following where Branka had gone. As we approached the end of the tunnel, I saw both dwarf and darkspawn corpses piled up in the next large cavern. The stench of the rotting bodies was almost as bad as the broodmother. Why had Branka not disposed of them?

We finally found her standing on a large rock surrounded by more metal gates. Behind her were even more corpses. I glanced at them and then at Branka. She stared back at me impassively.

“I needed people to test Caridin’s traps.” She shrugged. “There is no way to break through except by trial and error. So I sent them in…”

“Sent them in to die,” I muttered, but she heard me.

“They were mine! All of them. Pledged to be **my** house and they didn’t want to help! They tried to leave me… even my Hespith! There is something about this place that seems to makes people despair. But even Hespith couldn’t understand that when you reach for greatness, there has to be sacrifices! As many sacrifices as needed!”

From out of nowhere it seemed, a horde of darkspawn suddenly rushed into the cave. I didn’t know where they come from, but I knew they were going to die. My mana supply was low and the power in my crystal necklace had long been exhausted, but lately, I’d been finding a new source of energy to deal with enemies… anger.

I had also managed to find a very sharp piece of shrapnel and some discarded sinew. Using a simple binding spell, I had now turned the end of my staff into a bladed weapon that I could use when I could no longer cast spells. Alistair had been both a little impressed and a little disturbed by my new “invention”.

The first genlock that rushed at me got the bladed end of my staff in its throat. Once it was dead I turned and cast a fireball at another. Morrigan had taken to fighting primarily in her shape-shifted forms as it took her less mana to battle that way. Since it was still a relatively new magic for me, I found I couldn’t maintain my animal forms as long as she could, so I stuck to fighting as a human. Once the group of darkspawn was dead, Branka continued her diatribe.

“Hespith shouldn’t have gone. She was pledged to me! She swore to me that she’d do whatever it took to find the Anvil! There was no other choice by then! Most of them were dying from the taint already! But some of the women were… transforming.”

“So you knew?! You knew that the darkspawn were changing the women of your house – including Laryn **and** your lover Hespith – into broodmothers?”

“Yes, I knew what they would become. This way they could still serve me… to let me focus on finding the Anvil. They would create an endless supply of fresh darkspawn to test the traps! It was the only way!”

I saw Branka step on something. Suddenly another group of darkspawn rushed in. _Was she somehow sending them in to fight us? Was this some kind of test?_

All of our warriors rushed up to battle this new grouping of darkspawn, which were mostly hurlocks and shrieks. Leliana, Morrigan, and Zevran took care of any that got through the warriors. This left me, though Wynne was still close enough to listen in, able to find out more from Branka about her time down here – and her apparent loss of sanity.

“Oh, you have no idea how they carried on when they found out. How they clasped my hands and begged to die! But they had pledged me their loyalty! They had no right to fight me!”

“You are a deplorable woman, Branka! You don’t deserve your Paragon status! Not after what you have done down here!” I cried out in anger.

“Hold your tongue, Warden! If you want my support to end the squabbling in the Assembly, you will do as **I** command you!” She glared at me, her eyes all but spitting fire, but then gave me a conceited smile. “They say your order is renowned for its wits as well as its brawn. Perhaps you’ll be the ones to solve my dilemma. If not, I should at least be one step closer to my goal.” She stepped on another switch.

This next rush of darkspawn was the largest yet, including Ogres. I had no idea how Branka had managed to capture and hold darkspawn in this area, but test or no, they still had to die. Morrigan, Zevran, and I focused on the large groups of smaller, weaker darkspawn, while Alistair and the rest fought the Ogres.

When the last one fell to Sten’s blade, I turned to face Branka again. She had a nasty smile on her face. As I approached her, another genlock rogue thought it could try to attack me just like the one in Shadmoor. However, this time I was not taken by surprise. I jammed the bladed end of my staff behind me and twisted. The genlock screeched and fell to the ground as I yanked my staff out of its corpse.

“Most impressive, Warden,” Branka said, though her so-called compliment had a sarcastic tone to it. “You and your companions are indeed formidable. Now, if you will kindly proceed down the tunnel behind you, you will find the first of three traps that Caridin set. You will get through them and I will meet you in the chamber of the Anvil.”

“What makes you so certain there are only three traps?” Wynne asked her.

“True, I don’t for certain. In our time here, that was as far as we managed to get. But I can hear the Anvil! It is calling out to me. It feels so close!”

We left Branka behind and made our way into the tunnel that the darkspawn had stormed out from. Turned out there were a few stragglers that hadn’t come out with the rest, but they quickly fell to blades, spells, arrows, and fists. We reached a room at the end of the tunnel filled with poisonous green fumes.

“If her house had already passed this to get all the way through to the third trap, then why is this still active?” Leliana mused.

“I suppose we won’t ever know… and frankly, I don’t give a damn anymore,” I muttered. Then I aimed my staff. “Balla gaoithe!” <Wind wall!> The poison gas was pushed to the far end of the room revealing four stone golems standing guard over four switches. I had no doubt in my mind that we’d have to fight these golems, but the gas would make it harder to see, let alone breathe.

“Zev, Leli, can you two go stealth and get the switches turned off to prevent the gas from filling the room again?” Already I was straining to hold the gas back. “Please hurry, if you are able… I can’t hold this spell much longer!”

Both nodded and immediately vanished. Within seconds, I had to release the spell. Fortunately, both Leliana and Zevran had succeeded in turning off the switches. The gas that had already been in the room slowly dissipated. We all stepped into the room and just as I had predicted, the golems did indeed activate. _Line of sight, most likely_ , I thought.

We split into two teams, each group taking care of the golems on their respective side. Shale was the only one who hesitated slightly. I could see his internal struggle, he wanted to help us but didn’t really want to hurt what he probably considered brothers-in-arms. I honestly doubted we were permanently killing the golems anyways; they were way too tough. Besides, if Branka’s house had gotten through here already, it was most likely that these golems just reset themselves over time.

After we disabled the golems and made it to the other side of the room, I mentioned this fact to Shale.

“Now that it says this, that does make a certain amount of sense. These golems do not feel like the same kind of golem I am, free will aside. I sense no real being in them if that makes sense to it.”

“Yes, it does,” I replied. Then I turned back to Zevran and Leliana. “Can you turn back on the gas in the room?”

“Whatever for?” Leliana asked.

“I told Branka we’d get through. I didn’t say I’d give her a free pass to get through them. She wants that damnable Anvil, she’s going to have to work for it, just like us.”

“I like how you think, Kylara,” Zevran grinned. He then headed back to the switches.

“Fitting,” Sten said. “I do not care for this… Branka. She is using us.”

“Watch it there, giant… that’s my wife you’re talkin’ about,” Oghren growled. Sten just stared at Oghren until he had to look away. “Bah!” he muttered.

I opened the door just as Leliana and Zevran came back after turning the gas back on. We all exited the room and then I shut the door behind me.

The following tunnel just had more darkspawn and dwarf corpses lining it.

“Such disrespect for her dead friends and family,” Wynne tsked. “She should at least have given them a proper burial.” She made it a point to then look at Oghren, who just grunted and looked at the ground.

“Don’t be pestering me about it, lady. It’s bad enough I’ve been sober for the last week and a half,” Oghren snarled.

The next room had no gas, or anything untoward that I could see other than another four golems.

“Looks too easy,” I said softly.

Zevran came up and peered into the room. “Ah! Subtle, but I see the trap here. Blade traps.” He pointed to the walls. “Very clever. Whoever set this figures that when you are engaging the golems here that you wouldn’t notice the switches on the floor. You step on those and you get stabbed or sliced by the hidden blades.”

“Can they be disabled?”

“Pssht. Easily.” Zevran winked at me and vanished into stealth again. Within moments he reappeared and quipped, “Done and done. We may now fight these golems without risk… from the traps, at least.”

So just as before, we split up and took out the golem guardians again. This time, Shale helped us with no hesitation. Once the golems were dealt with and we were safely on the opposite side of the room, Zevran went back and reset the blade traps. I gave him a sly smile and nodded.

After another twisting tunnel, we came across a vast cavern. Raw lyrium veins ran throughout the walls and ceiling of the cave, their weird shimmering light pulsing to some unknown heartbeat deep within the earth. **18**  In the center of the cave was a smooth platform. There was a large, carved, stone face on the platform and in front of it was a small black anvil. _This can’t be the Anvil of the Void, could it? Branka mentioned three traps, so this must be the last one,_ I thought.

We slowly approached the platform. It was then that I saw that the one face was actually three… possibly with a fourth on the one side I couldn’t see. There were also more anvils. I was guessing that there was one anvil per statue face. Just then all the light from the lyrium crystals went out. In the pitch dark, we all grabbed for each other, just to keep in contact with something physical. Two eerie lights lit up in front of us, but when I focused, I could see more. These were the “eyes” of each statue face.

There was a grinding noise and we saw the lights turn. The lyrium crystal veins lit up again so that we could see. Then the statue faces began firing some type of energy at us. We all dodged out of the way. To make matters worse, four vengeful spirits then walked out of the spinning statue faces and started attacking.

We all drew our weapons and split up to attack each spirit while trying to avoid the blasts from the statue faces. One of Leliana’s arrows eventually “killed” one of the spirits, as it vanished with an angry shriek. The anvil it was closest to suddenly began to glow brightly, but what it meant, I couldn’t grasp at the moment. It wasn’t until Oghren’s battleaxe accidentally hit one of the glowing anvils and I saw a blast of energy hit one of the faces that I realized what we needed to do.

“Everyone!” I shouted over the battle. “Once you kill a spirit, hit the glowing anvil near it! It will damage the statue!”

It took awhile for us to get the pattern down, as the statue faces kept rotating, but eventually, we got it. The trap was finally disabled. I didn’t know if this one would reset on its own and didn’t want to waste time having Zev or Leliana trying to figure it out.

All of us proceeded out of the cavern and into yet another tunnel.

 

Finally, we reached another vast cavern, but this one ended with a sheer drop off. A dead end. The heat in this cavern was the most intense I had felt in our whole time in Orzammar and the Deep Roads. There were lava falls to the rear of the cave and the walls were almost orange with heat. In the center of this cavern, surrounded by stone golems, was a glowing anvil. It almost looked like it was made out of gold and there were blue veins of lyrium in an intricate design that swirled around the whole anvil and pedestal on which it sat.

In front of the anvil was another golem, but this one was metal. We slowly approached it. To my surprise, it suddenly spoke.

“My name is Caridin. Once, longer ago than I care to think, I was a Paragon th the dwarves of Orzammar.”

“Caridin?” Shale exclaimed in surprise. “You… are alive?”

Caridin turned to Shale. “Ah, now there is a voice I recognize. Shayle of House Cadash. Step forward.”

Shayle did so. “You… know my name? Was it you that forged me then? Was it you that gave me my name?”

“Have you forgotten then? It has been so long.” Caridin sighed. “I made you into the golem you are now, Shayle, but before that, you were a dwarf… just as I was. You were the finest warrior to serve under King Valtor and the only woman to volunteer.”

“The only… woman… dwarf?

“Waaaiit a second,” Oghren chuckled. “You’re tellin’ me that Shale is a girl?”

Caridin continued, “Yes. I laid you on the Anvil of the Void, here in this very room and put you into the form you now possess.”

“The Anvil of the Void…” Shayle murmured. “I thought it sounded familiar. We’ve been down here… seeking it.”

“If you seek my Anvil, then you must care about my story… or be doomed to relive it.” I knew it probably wouldn’t take Branka long to get through the traps we had reset, but I felt this was important. So I said, “Please. Tell us your tale, Caridin.”

“Though I made many things in my time, I rose to fame and earned my status based on a single item: the Anvil of the Void. It allowed me to forge a man of steel or stone, as flexible and clever as any soldier. As an army, they were invincible. But I told no one the cost.”

“Go on, please.”

“No mere smith, however skilled, has the power to create life. To make my golems live, I had to take their lives from elsewhere.”

“Sounds almost like blood magic… a dangerous road,” I heard Wynne murmur.

Caridin nodded. “But the darkspawn were pressing in. Originally, I only took volunteers, the bravest of souls willing to trade their very lives for the chance to defend their homeland.”

“Let me guess… someone got greedy, right?” Alistair said.

“Yes. King Valtor. He began to force men… the casteless and criminals… his political enemies. All of them were to be given to the Anvil. It took feeling the hammer’s blow myself to realize the height of my crimes.”

“Do you want… revenge?” Wynne asked fearfully.

“No. Not revenge. The blow of the hammer opened my eyes. My apprentices knew enough to make me as I am, but not enough to fashion a control rod. I retained my mind.”

“The pain you must have suffered… I can’t even imagine,” I said softly.

“Yes, but it is what made me realize that my invention is flawed.” Caridin turned back to Shayle. “You were amongst the most loyal of my followers, Shayle. You remained at my side throughout it all. In the end, I sent you away with your control rod… out of mercy.”

“I… do not remember any of this,” Shayle stated.

“As for myself and the rest of my golems, we have remained entombed here ever since. I have sought a way to destroy the Anvil, but alas… no golem can touch it.”

Just then there was a shout and Branka came storming in. “NO! The Anvil is mine! No one will take it from me!”

“Shayle,” Caridin quickly whispered, “you fought to destroy the Anvil once! Do not allow it to fall into unthinking hands again!”

“You speak of things I do not remember. You say we fought… did you use our control rods to command us to do so?”

“After I sent you away, I destroyed the other rods! But all it would take is another master smith to create more… Then with my Anvil, they would be able to make all the slaves they want!” Caridin pleaded to the rest of us. “Please help me! Help me to destroy the Anvil. Do not let it enslave more souls than it already has!”

“Bah! Don’t listen to him!” Branka yelled. “He’s been trapped here for a thousand years, stewing in his own madness! Help me reclaim the Anvil and not only will I support your King of choice, but I’ll build you a mighty army to crush the darkspawn and stop the Blight!”

“Branka, you mad bleedin’ nug-tail!” Oghren bellowed. “Does this thing mean so much to you that you can’t even see what you’ve lost to get it?”

“Look around you Warden. Do you think in all your time here that this is what our empire should look like? Nothing but crumbling tunnels filled with darkspawn spume? The Anvil will let us take back our glory!”

I shook my head. “Branka, the Anvil enslaves living souls! That is what you’ve been hearing the whole time you’ve been here. You said yourself that this place makes people despair! You’ve been hearing the voices of all the dead souls trapped inside the Anvil; souls crying out for mercy!”

“Damn it, woman! You didn’t hear what Caridin said! Hundreds of people were bound into golems and their souls were trapped inside the Anvil when their bodies were destroyed! The Warden is right! That is what you’ve been hearing… and because of it, you’ve gone mad!”

I faced Caridin. “If you can give me your support as a Paragon, we will destroy the Anvil.”

“You have my word, stranger,” Caridin replied. “Thank you. Your compassion shames me.”

“It will fight with Caridin?” Shayle nodded. “Good. That seems right.”

“NO! I don’t believe any of this! You will not destroy what I claim! The Anvil is MINE!”

“Branka, please listen to reason! Don’t throw away your life for this!”

“We have to destroy the Anvil, Branka,” I said. “It is the right thing to do.”

“We’ll see about that!” Branka raged. “Your precious Caridin isn’t the only master smith here!” With that, she brought out something that looked like a short staff covered in complex runes. She raised it into the air and shouted, “Golems! Obey me! Attack!”  
“She has a… control rod!” Caridin cried out as all of the stone golems around the Anvil came to life. “She… has control… over me! Help me! I cannot… fight her!”

Caridin swung his mighty iron fist at me and I just barely managed to dodge it. I cast an ice spell with what little mana I had left, but Caridin was hardly affected by it. I mentally slapped myself, with the amount of heat here any ice would immediately melt. I tried for an earth spell, but nothing happened. I was tapped out completely. Then I noticed the lyrium crystals scattered all around the cavern. It was not a potion… but would it restore my mana just the same?

I ran over to one of the crystal formations as my friends battled the stone golems all over the cave. _Please, Maker… let this work!_ I broke off a tiny piece of the crystal – no bigger than the very tip of the fingernail on my pinkie – put it in my mouth and swallowed. Raw, uncontrollable power coursed through me. Tremors shook my body and a cold sweat, despite the tremendous heat, covered my skin. I felt like I might be sick, but slowly I regained control over myself. I quickly realized, however, that if I didn't expel all of this raw mana from myself, there would likely be complications later.

Holding my staff high, I shouted out, “Bidh mi ag òrdachadh cumhachd na talmhainn gus mo naimhdean a ghlacadh! Cùm iad fhathast agus stad an ionnsaigh!” <I order the earth's power to catch my enemies! Keep them still and stop the attack!>

As I channeled the spell, rock slowly started creeping up the legs of the stone golems and Caridin, preventing them from moving. It then slowly crept past their waists and then sealed their arms to their sides. Once they were incapacitated, Shale, who had been surprisingly unaffected by Branka’s control rod, grabbed her and held tight. Alistair came up, took the control rod from her, and snapped it in half. I then released the spell holding all of the golems.

“Why?!” Branka struggled in Shayle’s grasp. “Why are you doing this to me?! All I want is to help my people, just as Caridin did!”

“But at what cost? Please, Branka… think clearly about this and ask yourself where the power of the Anvil truly comes from.”

“The v-voices… they’ve been calling me for so long and I didn’t even… Ah! Hespith tried to tell me, but I wouldn’t listen!”

Oghren came up to her. He gently laid a hand on her arm. “You have to make this right. The Branka I knew would do that.”

“So will the woman Paragon do what Caridin wants?” Shayle asked.

“Y-yes. You are right. The Anvil must be destroyed. It is an abomination. I will… do it.”

Carefully, Shayle released her hold on Branka. At first, Branka just stood there gazing longingly at the Anvil, tears streaming down her face. Then, as we all watched, she slowly walked up to it.

“Damn this thing… and damn me too.” She raised up her hammer and smashed it hard against one of the lyrium veins running through it. The resulting shock wave shattered the Anvil of the Void into hundreds of pieces. Branka sank to her knees amidst the rubble and sobbed. She then looked out at the vast lava lake behind where the Anvil used to sit.

I thought I should go to her, say something, but Oghren seemed to guess what I was planning.

“Just… give her some time.”

A few more moments passed and then we heard Branka speak.

“Oghren?”

“Yes, Branka?”

“When you go back to Orzammar… do not tell them what became of me.” She stood up and walked to the edge of the cliff. She turned around and looked back at Oghren.

“Branka…” He shook his head and held up his hands. “Don – ”

Before he could even finish the word, Branka stepped off the cliff edge and fell into the lava. She was gone.

Caridin walked up to the ruins of his broken Anvil and sighed. “Another life lost because of my invention. I wish no mention of it had made it into history.”

“Yeah, you ain’t kidding. Stupid woman!” Oghren growled, trying to sound tough, but I could hear a slight tremor in his voice. “Always knew this mad quest of hers would kill her.”

“I’m sorry, Oghren,” I said softly. “Will you be all right?”

“Ah, just get me to Tapsters after all this is over. I’ll be fine.”

Shayle walked over to where Caridin stood. “How is it that the woman Paragon was not able to disable me as she did you, Caridin?”

“I do not know. Have you been altered?”

“I once had a pathetic little mage of a master. He… did strange things to me – experimented on me. One day, I killed him. I don’t know if it was an accident or on purpose… I will say that he was really annoying and probably deserved it, but once he was dead I became paralyzed. When it reactivated me,” Shayle pointed at me, “I realized that my control rod no longer worked. It was unable to give me orders. I had free will to do as I pleased.”

“Hmm. Perhaps your former master somehow brought forth old memories and it caused you to remember the time when you fought at my side? Perhaps you thought he was an enemy from your past. The paralysis you speak of always resulted when the master perished. As for your free will… you were always a strong woman, Shayle. I am pleased to see you remained as such.”

“I do not know what to say… Thank you?”

“Do not thank me, Shayle. All of this… this was my doing, my legacy. But at least it is over now.” Caridin walked back over to us. “I thank you for standing with me, stranger. I will now forge you the crown you need.”

“But the Anvil has been destroyed,” I said.

“I am a master smith. I do not need a magical anvil to make what you seek.”

He walked over to another area of the cave near another sheer drop off. There were several regular anvils, hammers of various shapes and sizes, lumps of cold metal, casting molds, and a very long chain that was attached to a pulley. At the end of the chain was a very thick metal bucket. I saw him dump in several lumps of metal into the bucket.

Curious, I asked, “There is no forge. How will you melt that metal?” **1** **9**

“I will lower this down close to the lava. The temperature down there is more than hot enough to melt gold.”

“What about the bucket and chain? They won’t melt?”

“No. This bucket and chain are made of a metal that has a much higher melting point than the gold within. But while I am immune to such heat, you are not. You will want to stand back while I work.”

While Caridin was busy forging the crown I wandered around the cavern looking at the different rock formations – the stalactites and stalagmites, all encrusted with small veins of lyrium. I could still feel the power of the raw lyrium I had ingested and knew I’d probably be sick later, but for now, there was nothing I could do about it.

Larger swirls of lyrium were embedded in the cave walls throughout, along with crystals and other minerals. Then something in the back corner of the cave caught my eye. I walked over to it.

It was a large stone tablet, chipped with age, and it had a lot of dwarven runes carved into its surface. Shayle and the rest of my friends all walked up to me to see what had caught my attention.

“What is it looking at?”

“This tablet. I am wondering what it is. I can’t read dwarvish, but it looks like… a list of names? Shayle, Oghren, do either of you know what this is?”

Shayle answered first. “I do not recognize this, but if it wants to make a tracing of this, I can study it later and find out.”

“It’s old dwarvish… very old, but I think I can read it…” Oghren said. “Lemme see here… ‘We honor those that have made this sacrifice. Let their names be remembered’. I think I recognize some of these houses. A lot of them are dead and gone now, but I think… This is a memorial! It is a list of names of all the dwarves who became golems! Has to be! Well, fart me a lullaby! Warden, if you have some paper in your bag, you should do what Shayle suggested and make a copy of this! Betcha the Shaperate would pay you some gold for this information!”

 

Several hours later, Caridin finally walked over and presented us with a simple gold crown stamped with his house seal.

“There. It is done. Give it to whom you will. I do not wish to hear their names, nor anything more of them. I have already lived far beyond my time. I have no place here.

“Caridin? Would you be… willing to help us in the battle against the archdemon? You are very strong and skilled. We need all of the allies we can get.”

“I… do not know. I am a thousand years outside of my time. I only wish for an end to my overly long life-span.”

“Would you please at least consider it? I ask no more than that.”

“Very well. I will think about it.”

“Thank you.” We gathered up everything and turned to leave.

“Atrast nal tunsha,” Caridin said as we left. “May you always find your way in the dark.”

 

Once we left Caridin’s lair and made our way back through the deactivated traps (Branka, thankfully, had left them off after she had come through), we saw the gate holding us in had reopened. The first night, we had to set up camp because the raw mana finally reared its ugly head. Alistair and Wynne stayed by my side as I was sick for hours with chills, fever, and nausea.

Once I had healed enough to get going again, we pushed ourselves to get back to Orzammar as fast as possible. Fortunately, there were few darkspawn battles that we had to fight.

By the sixth day of our forced march back, we were extremely filthy, hungry, thirsty, and utterly exhausted. We stumbled back to Harrowmont’s estate. Just as we walked in, Dulin Forender ran up to us.

“Wardens! Thank the ancestors you’ve arrived! They are in the Assembly right now! You must hurry!”

“Who is in the Assembly?” Alistair patiently asked.

“My Lord Harrowmont, Bhelen, and the other deshyrs! They are getting ready to vote!”

“So Bhelen thought he’d try to outsmart us, hmm?” I scowled. I grabbed my pack off of my back, opened it, and grabbed out the crown Caridin had made.

“Is that…” Dulin started to ask.

“Yes. A crown for your lord made by the Paragon Caridin. Now as you said, we must hurry.”

“Paragon… Caridin? How?”

I really didn’t want to be rude, but I brushed past Dulin and left the manor. Everyone followed me. Fortunately, the Assembly Hall was not too far from the manor. I opened the double doors, walked into the chamber, and immediately heard Steward Bandelor shouting.

“Lords of the Assembly, I call for order! This arguing gets us nowhere!”

As we made our way down the stairs to the central chamber floor, I saw both Bhelen and Harrowmont standing on a raised dais. Bhelen spoke next.

“Then why is Harrowmont constantly pushing for these delaying tactics? What is he waiting for? I want a vote right now! My father has one living child to assume the Aeducan throne! Why do you all deny him that?”

“Your father made me swear on his deathbed that you would not succeed him,” Harrowmont answered.

One of the guards who escorted us in announced us. “I apologize for the interruption, Lord Steward, but the Grey Wardens have returned.”

As I stepped forward, I heard most of the deshyrs gasp. It could have been the haggard look on my face, the darkspawn blood on my robe, or the crown I carried in my hand… I didn’t know – or at the moment care. I just wanted this done and over. Bhelen glared at us, while Harrowmont beamed.

“We should let the Warden speak,” he said.

“I bring a crown forged by the Paragon Caridin on the Anvil of the Void.”

“Th-that’s impossible!” Bhelen shouted. “Caridin has been dead for a thousand years!”

It was Oghren who answered. “Caridin has been trapped in the body of a golem all this time.”

“You mentioned the Anvil of the Void. You… actually found it?” Harrowmont asked in a surprised tone.

“Found it, yes. But it has been destroyed,” I said with finality.

“What?! Why?” an unknown deshyr bellowed.

Again, Oghren spoke. “It was Caridin who wanted it destroyed. He did not want his invention to be abused to make any more golems.”

“What would you know, you drunkard!” I heard another deshyr yell.

Oghren growled. “ **I** was there with the Wardens! While you lot were all up here sittin’ pretty, I was down in the Deep Roads fightin’ darkspawn with them. I saw it all happen!”

“And we are supposed to trust this? The word of a drunken sot and a Grey Warden known to be in Harrowmont’s pocket?” Bhelen sneered.

“I am in no one’s pocket!” I fumed. “We all have been working our asses off to get this resolved!”

“I see you are wearing Legion of the Dead armor,” a deshyr towards the front of the room said to Oghren. “When did you join them?”

“None of that matters now!” I spoke in an elevated voice. “Right now, I have the crown. Let’s get this King business settled!”

“Very well, Warden,” Steward Bandelor said. He took the crown from my hands and examined it. “This crown is of Paragon make and bears Caridin’s ancient seal. So tell us, Warden; whom did Caridin choose?”

“He wished for me to give it to whomever I chose.”

“The Grey Wardens know nothing about us!” Bhelen ranted. “Why would a Paragon entrust someone like them with such a weighty decision?! This is ridiculous!”

Steward Bandelor held up his hand at Bhelen. “We’ve argued in these chambers far too long. The will of the Paragon is that the Grey Warden decide. So who will it be, Warden?”

“I am granting the crown to Lord Harrowmont,” I replied.

Harrowmont nodded. “I appreciate your forthrightness, Warden. You have acted with grace through this entire torturous process.”

“I will **not** abide by this!” Bhelen roared. “Why are we letting a surfacer decide our fate?!”

“The ancestors have spoken!”

“Stand down, Bhelen,” I said with a warning voice. “You have lost.”

“As if you ever gave me a chance, Warden!”

I stared at the enraged Bhelen. “Perhaps then, you shouldn’t have had your second want us to lie for you right at the start. I might have been more willing to listen.”

Now Bhelen actually looked surprised. He turned to his second. “Vartag, what did you do?” **20**

“I just wanted to ensure that you would become King. To that end, I was willing to do whatever was necessary.” There was suddenly a very unfriendly glint in Vartag’s eyes. “I still will! To me, Bhelen supporters! Attack!”

Vartag pulled out a dagger and rushed up to me. I barely had time to get off a small shield spell. Several other deshyrs brought out various weapons: crossbows, more daggers, and staves.

As the fracas ensued, my friends all quickly began attacking and defending back. Steward Bandelor and several guards surrounded Harrowmont to protect the King, while I saw Bhelen back off, slowly shaking his head. The look on his face stunned me. _Had he truly not know_ _n_ _about this? Were all the attacks from his supporters Vartag’s doing_ _all along_ _?_

I would have to deal with that later. For the moment, I needed to focus on Vartag… but I was so tired. To try and get an attack in, I let my shield spell drop. Unfortunately, it was a little too soon. Vartag’s dagger managed to cut through my leather robe and across my stomach. I screamed and pressed my arm and hand across the wound as I sank to the floor.

“Kylara!” I heard Alistair shout. He quickly killed the dwarf who he had been fighting and immediately ran up and started attacking Vartag. With a block of his shield and the following stab of his sword, Vartag went down.

Soon the tumult was over. Wynne rushed over and cast a quick heal to stop the bleeding.

“I want to examine it properly once we get back to the estate,” she said.

I nodded, too tired to answer.

Finally, Harrowmont approached me. Guards had Bhelen restrained. “Warden? Are you all right?”

“We are not sure yet,” Alistair quietly replied from where he was kneeling next to me. “Wynne wants to check her when we get back.”

“Yes, yes… Absolutely,” Harrowmont said. “I just have one quick question, if I may.” Alistair looked up at Harrowmont. “We have Bhelen restrained, but we are not sure what to do in this case. He admitted to knowing nothing about Vartag’s actions and has willingly cooperated with us. By dwarven law, he should still be executed, but Endrin was my dear friend, and I do not want to kill his only remaining son unless I have no other choice.”

“Do you have a place to keep political prisoners?” Alistair asked.

“I… suppose we could keep him under house arrest at the palace.”

“Yes,” I whispered. “When I am recovered… I’d like to speak… with him, please.”

“Very well, Wardens. Let’s get you back to your room at my estate. Quickly now!” He gestured for the remaining deshyrs – of which there were not many left – to help my friends get me back. “We will hold off my official coronation until you are healed and fully rested.”

 

When I woke up, I was on the soft bed in the guest room. I was wearing my long nightshirt and Alistair was sitting on the side of the bed. He looked as weary as I.

“Hey,” I poked his back and smiled gently. “How long have I been out?”

He gave a tired grin back at me. “Almost a whole day.”

“Have you been up all night?”

“Not the whole night, no.” He yawned. “Just most of it.” He then got up and went over to the table in our room. When he came back he was carrying a bowl and a cup. “Here. Wynne brought this by not that long ago. It’s soup. She says you need to eat.”

“I still don’t feel like I have much of an appetite. I suppose it’s because we were down there for so long with little food.”

“Well, I am supposed to make sure you eat. Wynne told me, ‘Don’t make me come back in there. I don’t want to have to force feed her!’ Pretty sure those were her exact words.”

I reluctantly took the bowl and ate a spoonful. Honestly, I thought I wouldn’t want anymore after the first bite, but I suddenly realized I **was** hungry. I ate the rest as fast as I could manage without making myself sick. Alistair then handed me the cup.

“Drink slow,” he said with caution. “I’m afraid it isn’t water, even though that is what we need. Dwarves apparently don’t drink much water, if at all. This was the weakest stuff Harrowmont could get from Tapsters.”

I took a sip. It was sweet. “What is it?”

“Honey mead.”

“I think I’d prefer water at this moment,” I said, handing back the cup.

“I did refill your water-skin, but it’s still pretty warm.”

“I’ll have to drink it as is,” I said with a sigh. “I don’t have enough mana to cool it off now.”

Alistair got back up again, taking both the bowl and cup. He set them back on the table and then brought back my water-skin.

“Thank you.” I uncorked it and took a small swallow. It was, as he had said, warm… but it wasn’t too bad. I took another small drink, then I lay back on the pillows. Alistair took the water-skin, recorked it, then set it on the floor. “So, how bad was I actually injured?” I asked.

“Thankfully, the wound was shallow. Wynne was able to heal it fully.”

“I’m glad. Hurt like the void when he sliced me, though.”

“It was a nasty wound, but as I said, shallow. I, um, may have also given Wynne a bit of help, though she was unaware of it.”

“How do you mean?” I asked, curious.

“I stood behind her with my hand on her shoulder. She thought it was just for comfort, but I… was holding my crystal necklace. I am guessing I gave her the last of the energy from it, because she said when she was finished that she didn’t feel as tired as she normally does after a healing like that.”

“And she didn’t notice?”

“Not that I could tell.” He leaned over to kiss me. As his lips met mine, I immediately moaned. He quickly sat back up. “A-are you all right? You’re not hurting, are you?”

I sat up. “Maker’s Breath, Alistair! Don’t you realize it’s been just over three weeks?”

“Three weeks for… oh.” His cheeks turned bright red. “I just sounded really stupid there for a moment. Sorry. But… are you okay? You aren’t too tired? I suppose I could be… gentle?”

I gripped the front of his shirt in both my fists. “Gentle, Alistair?! You and I have just had the absolute shittiest three weeks of our lives just now. I have rested, eaten, and had something to drink. So here is what I want now. You and I are getting under that shower, rinsing off, and then I want…” I paused for dramatic effect and with a sultry smile, purred, “…a long… hard… **fuck** from you.”

Alistair visibly gulped, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He closed his eyes momentarily. When he looked at me again, I could see he was most definitely interested; the fire in his molten eyes making that very clear. Yet, he still hesitated. “Are you sure that is what you want? I mean, I would be happy to just… be with you…” He swallowed again. “It’s not that I don’t want to… do as you ask. I love being with you in all ways!”

“Then what is the problem?”

“I… am afraid of hurting you. I hunger for you so much right now, but I am worried I might get…”

“Too caught up in the moment?”

“Yes! Exactly!

I pulled against his shirt to bring him closer to me and kissed his bearded face. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t think I could handle it, Alistair. Besides, we could… let off a little steam first, if that makes you feel more at ease.”

He gave me a smile. “You know I will never say no to that, my love. You really do have the most wicked little tongue.”

“Oh, you are definitely no slouch in that department either, my Alibear.”

“Is that so?” His grin was huge. “Good to know.”

“Still, I think we both need to clean up first.”

“Shower?”

I nodded, and he got up from the bed. After quickly stripping down to his braies, he then leaned down and pulled the nightshirt off of me. He scooped me into his strong arms and carried me to the shower.

“I could have walked that far,” I said with a giggle.

“I know.” He gently kissed my forehead. “I just wanted to hold you.”

Once at the shower, I turned the water on as hot as I could tolerate. “I feel like I need to scour myself after being down there for so long.” I let the water run over me for several moments, then I slipped off my undergarments. “Should probably burn these along with my robe… but since I have nothing else for the moment…” Alistair handed me my soap and I scrubbed the garments clean. Then I took the soap to my body. “Not joining me?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Leaning against the tub, he smiled. “Since I missed you in the shower once before, I think I’ll just… enjoy the view for the moment.”

“Your desire is my command,” I said silkily. I slowly ran the soap over my is a slow exaggerated fashion; over my breasts and down my body. Then I put the soap down and used my hands to slowly rub the suds over me. I gave a sexy smile to Alistair and was pleased to see the absolute gobsmacked look on his face.

“Mercy, woman! Have the Deep Roads made you so cruel?”

As I rinsed off, I replied with feigned innocence. “Cruel? Me? If I recall, you said you wanted to watch. I just wanted to make it worth your while.” I smiled and held my hand out to him. “Now if you care to get in here with me, I will be happy to take real good care of you.” He took my hand and stepped under the hot water.

I quickly knelt down and picked up my rose soap and lay it on the edge of the tub, then grabbed his soap bar. He lowered his braies and stepped out of them, leaving them on the floor of the shower. My heart almost stopped in my chest as I stared at his gloriously hard shaft. My tongue slowly trailed across my lips.

He groaned. “I can **feel** you staring at me…” He pinned me up against the wall. “Maker, how I want you!”

“Then let me get this done quickly,” I murmured, “because I need to have you… and soon.” I wet his bar of soap and got a good lather on my hands. He stepped out of the water flow. I lathered his body, starting with his muscular chest and chiseled abdominals. Then I washed his arms and then moved my hands down his back. I gave his ass a playful squeeze.

He made a noise that sounded somewhere between a groan and a growl. “Enough washing for now. We can be more thorough once we’ve sated… other needs.” He rinsed and turned the water off.

I gently grasped his cock and started stroking it slowly.

“Your touch… feels so good…” he breathed. “It’s so soft… Not like when I did it to myself…”

“You…” My breath hitched.

Apparently, I didn’t need to say anything else; he understood my unasked question. “Before we got together? Constantly…” he said softly. “Down in the Deep Roads? Every chance I could – which wasn’t often, granted.”

“Wait… You did **that** down in the Deep Roads and you didn’t ask me to join in?!”

“Unfortunately, it would have been unwise for us both to be distracted down there! Besides… it was seeing you one night that had me running for… ah, relief?”

“How do you mean?” I asked.

“I was keeping watch with Shale… er, I mean Shayle, one night and apparently in your sleep you started to… um, stroke yourself… while murmuring my name. Shayle had no idea what was wrong with me, so I just pretended I had eaten a bad nug…”

“I never knew…”

He laughed lightly and kissed me. “Oh, believe me finding places to do it without anyone noticing… that was a bit of a challenge.”

A moan escaped my lips and I leaned forward until my lips were near his ear. “That is the most… erotic…” I stroked him faster and nibbled his earlobe. “The mere thought of you doing that when I was so close by makes me…” I sank to my knees and immediately took him into my mouth, sucking on him deeply as though he were a tasty piece of candy.

“Ohh… Sweet Andraste, how I have missed this!” Alistair moaned in bliss. “The way you take me with your mouth! It is so amazing!” His breath hitched as I pulled him even deeper. “But…” He caught my head and gently stopped me. I looked up in confusion. “I know, love. I do want this… and I know it was your idea to ‘let off some steam’.” His burning gaze made me quiver. “But I can’t wait. After so long without, when I first spend, I want it to be inside of you.”

I nodded and got up off of the stone floor of the shower. I knew how I wanted him and hoped he would feel the same. I bent over at my waist and gripped the high edge of the nearby tub.

“Maker’s Blessings!” he groaned. “You are so perfect!” He leaned over me and I felt him grasp my breasts, his erection rubbing against my backside as he kneaded and massaged them. His fingers then strummed my nipples and I gasped.

“Hurry, Alistair! I need you!”

“No,” he said in the barest of whispers. “If I am going do what you want, I need to make sure you are ready…”

He spread my legs apart a bit and then knelt down. Immediately, he began licking, sucking, teasing. He used his fingers, tongue, lips, and breath to bring me to the edge again and again, but he did not let me go over.

Eventually, he had me shaking with a need so palpable, I was pleading for relief.

“Now! Please, Alistair! Now!”

He got up from the floor and quickly slid into me. We both cried out. He buried himself all the way in, muttering several colorful curses. I started trying to move against him, desperate for the friction and heat, but he gripped my hips with his hands. “Please, give me a moment, unless I come too soon!” He gave a huge contented sigh. “Oh, I had forgotten how fucking good you feel!”

I moaned loudly at his exclamation.

“You are so tight still, I pray I do not hurt you…” He gripped my hips tightly, slowly withdrew, and then with all of his strength, thrust back into me as hard as he could.

I screamed.

Alistair immediately panicked. “Kylara! I’m sor – ” he started to say… then he swiftly realized I wasn’t feeling pain, but rather pleasure. “Maker’s Mercy!” he panted as he felt my orgasm rippling against his cock. He murmured, “Certainly wasn’t expecting that… at least, not that quick.”

“More!” I begged. “Please!”

Gripping my hips tightly again, he pulled out and plunged back in, quickly setting a hard and fast pace. “You feel so wonderful!” he groaned. “Been so long… since I’ve felt… Ah! I-I’m not going to last much longer!”

“Don’t care,” I panted. “Just… need you so much!” I reached down and began stroking myself in time to his frantic thrusts.

“Oh! Too much… Toomuchtoomuch!!” He bellowed as he felt me coming again. His own release followed and with it, he cried out, “I love you, I love you, ah, Kylara! I love yoooou!!”

Riding it to the very end, he thrust a few more times, still murmuring my name and “I love you!” He then slowly pulled out, helped me to stand, and embraced me tightly in his strong arms. His lips pressed against mine and he kissed me deeply.

I could feel him trembling, so I gently broke the kiss and guided him to the edge of the tub so we could both sit. He rested his head on my shoulder.

After a few moments of silence, he spoke quietly. “I’m sorry that was so fast. I know you wanted long and hard… It’s just that I – ”

I put my finger to his lips. “Alibear, my love, we have a lot of lost time to make up for,” I said as I gave him a huge grin and a kiss. “I think it’s safe to say that we’ve only just gotten started.”

“Absolutely,” he said with a smile and brought his lips back to mine for a deeper kiss.

 

He took me again against the shower wall, water raining down against our sensitive skin, and once more on the stone table in the room. We then made our way to the bed in the room; our frenzied lust seemingly calmed for the time being. We slowed the pace down and made love on the bed twice more before collapsing into an exhausted sleep.

I was dimly aware at one point that Wynne had come into our room to check on us. Seeing us sleeping, she left as quietly as she had come in.

Though I had gone without food for quite some time during our journeys through the Deep Roads, it was hunger that eventually woke me. Perhaps there had been something in the soup Wynne had provided earlier that had rekindled my appetite, for I was famished.

First, I had to wriggle free from Alistair’s body. His leg and arm were both covering me protectively. His arm was easy to move, though he groaned slightly once I got myself free from under his muscular leg.

I sat on the edge of the bed and stretched. I was sore in many places, mostly my back, but figured another shower might help. The one good thing about the dwarven shower was it never seemed to run out of hot water.

I walked slowly over to it and then saw that in our desperate haste to be with one another that our undergarments were still on the floor of the shower. I chuckled lightly, bent over and picked them up. I rewashed mine, took care of Alistair’s, and set them on the edge of the tub. Then I got under the hot water and let it soothe my aching muscles.

I washed again, scrubbing my hair and body very thoroughly. Once I’d rinsed clean, I stepped out of the shower. Surprisingly, my lovable Alibear was still sound asleep. I thought the sound of the shower would have woken him, but apparently, I was wrong. Now that my mana had been fully restored from sleep – _and_ _by_ _other means,_ I grinned inwardly, fingering my crystal necklace – I picked up my undergarments and used my air spell to dry them. I slipped them on, put on a simple dress, and brushed out my hair. I then dried Alistair’s braies using the same air spell. _Now to see about some food…_

Wynne, bless her, had left us another tray. There was some sliced lichen bread and next to two empty bowls, a strange metal container that I had never seen the like of before. It seemed to have some type of twisting lid on it. I gripped it and twisted. It opened slowly to reveal hot soup. _How on all of Thedas was the soup still hot?_ I supposed the metal device holding it had something to do with that miracle.

I poured some of it into one of the bowls and then twisted the lid back on. I dipped the bread in and ate the soup. More honey mead had been brought in with the food, but I fetched my water-skin and chilled the remaining water within, smiling as I did so. It was good to be feeling like my old self again.

There was a light tapping at the door. I walked over and opened it to find Wynne there with a package in her arms.

“Kylara! I am so glad to see you up and about!” She beamed at me. “We were all so worried about you!”

I exited our room and shut the door lightly behind me. At Wynne’s questioning look, I replied, “Alistair is still sleeping.”

“I see,” she nodded. “Well, I am glad that both of you are on the road to recovery.”

“What about you? And everyone else?”

“I am fine, thank you for asking. We all have been feeling much better since we’ve been back in civilization, such as it is here. To be honest, I imagine the whole Deep Roads journey was much harder on you and Alistair since you are the Grey Wardens.”

“It wasn’t pleasant, that is for sure,” I said. “But it will likely be worse once we have to face off against the archdemon.”

“You are probably correct. But this wasn’t the only reason I stopped by,” she smiled gently. “Harrowmont commissioned the finest dwarven seamstresses here to make you a new robe.”

“Really? A new robe? For me?” I took the package from her. It was actually quite heavy. “How did they get my measurements?”

“We based most of it off of Leliana’s measurements, making adjustments for where I knew you were different. If it doesn’t fit, they said they could fix it.”

“I will thank Harrowmont later for this,” I said. “But the new robe can’t be the only thing in here, right?”

“No, Harrowmont also had some smiths clean and repair Alistair’s Warden armor…” _That would explain the weight,_ I thought, as Wynne continued, “The reply from Brunnhylda came while we were in the Deep Roads and there are also some grooming supplies in there. I thought it possible that Alistair might want to shave?”

“I will ask him. Thank you, Wynne.”

“I also wanted to let you know that the deshyrs were wanting to go ahead with Harrowmont’s coronation tonight if you were feeling up to it?”

“Yes, I think we should be fine. How long do we have to get ready?”

“The second horn sounded not too long ago, so perhaps three to four hours? They said they would come and get us when it was time,” Wynne explained.

“All right. After that is all taken care of, and the dwarves finally have the King, I hope they will let me speak to Bhelen.”

“I believe he is still under watch at the palace,” Wynne said.

“Good. Well, let me get back into our room and see if Alistair is awake yet.”

Wynne nodded. “See you soon, Kylara.”

 

Back in our room, Alistair was finally up and in the shower. He was facing the wall, just standing under the hot water, and didn’t hear me come back into the room. I set the package down on the table and quickly got undressed again. _No way am I missing this opportunity_ , I grinned.

I quickly got into the shower. He gave me a huge smile when he saw me. I murmured, “Hello there, handsome.”

“Hey there, yourself, beautiful.” He gave me a quick kiss. “Didn’t I hear you taking a shower earlier?”

“So you were more awake than I thought. Yes, as a matter of fact, I did take one earlier.”

“Then why are you in here with me?”

As I slowly got down on my knees, Alistair’s eyes got big. I grinned. “Just finishing what I started earlier…”

 

I stroked Alistair’s clean-shaved cheeks. “I have to admit, I was kind of getting used to the beard…” I murmured.

“It was rather itchy, so I am glad to be rid of it. But I did leave a little bit on my chin. What do you think?”

I smiled and brushed my fingers along the little ‘v’ of beard he’d left under his lip. “It’s cute.”

“Cute? Really now, that’s the best I’m going to get?” he pouted.

“Fishing for compliments, dear? Come now, you know I find you extremely handsome.” I bent over and kissed him tenderly. “But we really can’t dally any longer.”

“Well, you were the one who got into the shower with me…” he pointed out.

I laughed. “And you just had to have me not once, but twice more?”

“As you pointed out, love, we need to make up for lost time.”

“But not,” I kissed him again, “when we are on a schedule.” I stood back up and handed him his cleaned armor.

“You are right.” He looked over his armor, impressed. “They did a fantastic job cleaning and repairing this. I am so glad. It’s really the only thing I have left to remind me… of Duncan.”

“I know, dear,” I said and put my hand on his shoulder. “I think he’d be very proud of all that we’ve accomplished so far.” I looked over the new robe that the dwarven seamstresses had made for me. It came in five parts: leggings, an inner slip, the outer robe, gloves, and a belt. There was also a pretty gold circlet and new boots. “This is pretty, but I wish I had something with the Grey Warden insignia on it for myself.”

“It was a pity that there were no spare Warden robes for you to wear. I’ve seen them and they are quite nice. But you look lovely no matter what you wear.”

“Or when I wear nothing at all?” I grinned.

“Ah! Trying to get me in trouble are you?” he chuckled. “Not going to fall into that little trap of yours, love.” He pulled me down onto his lap and kissed me. “You know I love you no matter what you are dressed, or undressed in. I love your laugh, your smile, the way you look at me… like the way you are right now. I love you when you are sad, serious, or silly. I love every moment we spend together and no matter what the future holds for us, you will always be with me… here,” he pulled my hand up to touch his head, “and here.” He moved our hands down to his heart.

“Oh…” I sighed and leaned against his strong chest. “Alistair… That is so lovely.”

“I meant every word of it,” he pressed his lips against my forehead, my cheeks, and then my lips. “and as much as I would love to sit here and cuddle, I think we do need to finish getting ready. We’ve a coronation to tend to and you still wanted to speak with Bhelen, yes?”

“Yes, I do,” I said as I got back up.

“I was wondering why. We have made our selection. What do you hope to find out from him?”

“It seems that he had no knowledge of Vartag’s actions, so I guess I just want to find out where he now stands. Perhaps maybe even get him and Harrowmont to work together for the benefit of Orzammar?”

“I don’t know, love,” Alistair said as he put on his pants. “Harrowmont does seem to be a bit on the traditional side.”

“Exactly, and from what I remember back when we talked to the citizens of the city, Bhelen seems to want change… change that will benefit the dwarves in the long run.” I sighed as I slipped on the leggings that had come with my robe. “It’s a long shot, but I thought I could try at least.”

“If anyone can do it, I believe it will be you.”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence,” I smiled. Then I looked over the rest of my new robe. “I think this part goes on next?” I said, mostly to myself. Alistair already was finished. “Not wearing your chainmail tonight?” I asked as I tugged the inner slip on.

“It’s too hot and heavy for a ceremony and to be honest, I’ve worn it for over three weeks. I wouldn’t mind a little break from it.”

“Makes sense. Hopefully, there won’t be any trouble tonight and we can get back after the feast so I can finish packing. I am really ready to get back above ground.”

“Me too, love. Oh, speaking of which, what did Brunnhylda say in her letter? Will she give Zerlinda and her son a place to stay?”

“She was infuriated that they had branded a newborn infant. Ranted quite a lot about politics and castes, but yes, she said she will gladly take them in. If Zerlinda still wants to go, she can come with us. We can ask her in the morning before we leave here.”

“Is all well on her farm? No more darkspawn attacks?”

“She didn’t mention any, so I guess not. Everything seems to be fine. She said Winston went crazy when she mentioned my name to him. I guess he is eager to see us again.”

“We’ve been separated from him for so long. I’m looking forward to seeing him again too.” Alistair grinned.

“There!” I said as I slipped on the circlet. “All finished. How does it look?”

“The robes? Nice. You, on the other hand,” he came up and embraced me, “are stunning.” He kissed me deeply, smiled, and took my hand. “Come now, let’s get a King on Orzammar’s throne.”

 

It was a relatively simple affair, which made me happy. All of my friends were seated around the Assembly Hall and the floor was lined with the remaining deshyrs. Harrowmont stood in the center and Steward Bandelor presented him the crown Caridin had forged.

Then Harrowmont called Alistair and me to the center. There was a short speech about how he would send us our troops when we were ready to face off against the archdemon and then he presented Alistair with a fine silverite sword. Then he turned and presented my gift.

“Warden Kylara, I present to you this staff, which I carried as King Endrin’s second. Take it as a reminder of your place in Orzammar.”

“Thank you, King Harrowmont.” I bowed and then whispered to him, “After the feast, I like you to come with me so we may speak with Bhelen together.”

He nodded politely. “Come and find me later then.”

The feast was to be held at the Royal Palace, so we all left the Assembly Hall and made our way down to the palace. To my shock and surprise, I saw Ruck’s mother, Filda, standing off to the side of the palace. She was being held back by some guards.

“Please, you must let me through,” I heard her say. “I must speak with the Grey Wardens.”

I walked over, Alistair followed me. “Filda?”

The guards parted and let her through. At first, she didn’t seem to recognize who I was, but then she saw Alistair. “Oh. You are the other Grey Warden. You were wearing a different robe when I last saw you.”

“It was pretty much destroyed during our time in the Deep Roads. King Harrowmont had this one made for me.”

“Yes, the Deep Roads. That is the reason I came by here.” She dropped down to one knee. “Thank you, Wardens. I don’t know how you found him, but my son has come home. I will be forever in your debt.”

“How is he?” I had to ask. I had been so concerned with all that had happened in the cave and with the crystal’s magic affecting Ruck.

“He still seems a bit confused at times, but he getting better every day.” Filda smiled. “He still speaks of the pretty lady who found him. I guess he means you, Warden.” She wiped away a tear from her eye. “Thank you again for returning him to me.” She bowed to us both and then left.

“I really do hope he is all right,” I murmured.

“What exactly happened in the cave with Ruck?” Alistair whispered to me. “All I remember was one moment he was trying to grab your necklace and the next thing I knew he was leaving the cave, saying he was going home.”

“I still don’t understand all of it myself, but before we go to sleep later, I’ll tell you what I know.”

“Fair enough.” He gave a small grin and said, “So I guess now we mingle, socialize, and hobnob, or whatever else it is that rich people do when they get together.” He then clicked his heels together sharply, gave me an exaggerated bow, and said, “Milady Kylara, would you be so kind as to be my escort for this evening’s fine soirée?”

I giggled at his silly behavior. Speaking back with the most hoity-toity tone I could manage without breaking into outright laughter, I replied, “Why Milord Alistair, I would be ever so honored.” I offered my gloved hand to him. “Lead the way, if you would, kind ser.”

He beamed at me, took my hand and kissed it. Then he linked his arm with mine and we made our way into the Royal Palace.

 

True to his word, after a few hours at the feast, Harrowmont did follow Alistair and me over to the room where Prince Bhelen was being held. At my request, Harrowmont had removed his crown. I wanted him to appear less of a threat to Bhelen.

We knocked on the guarded door.

“Enter,” we heard from inside.

“Hello Prince Bhelen,” I greeted him and bowed. “I hope you have been all right while we were recovering.”

He gave a half smirk. “As well as can be expected, I suppose. I mean, I **am** a prisoner in my own room.” He turned to Harrowmont. “No crown? Not going to lord it on over me, huh?”

“Gentlemen, please let us keep things civil.”

Bhelen sighed. “Fine. So what is it that you hope to accomplish here Warden?”

“First,” I said slowly, “I want to know if what you told Harrowmont is true. You truly were not aware of Vartag’s actions?”

“I was not. I thought I could trust him. Apparently, I was wrong.”

“Secondly, did you murder your elder brother, Trian?”

“So that is what this is really about? You get me to admit to the crime and then you have a legitimate reason to execute me, is that it?”

“You knew exactly where to find the body and let your other brother get framed for the crime,” Harrowmont said darkly. “What conclusion should we draw? You tell me.”

All of a sudden it seemed as if a revelation hit Bhelen. He sat down and all his bluster seemed to vanish. He looked shaken.

“I trusted him. I believed him! I should have known better. Sebestyan would never have…” Bhelen put his head in his hands.

“Bhelen, if there is something you know…” I said softly.

He looked back up at us. “I… I thought that perhaps Sebestyan was jealous… like I was, the Trian was most likely going to be named King when our father died.” He gave a rueful chuckle. “But ‘Bes didn’t have a jealous bone in his body. He always was the one everyone liked, including you, Harrowmont. Trian was the firm, tough leader, ‘Bes was the friend to everyone, and me? Well, I was never sure why, but everyone seemed to hate me.”

“Did you give anyone a reason to hate you?” Alistair asked.

“I wanted change. Change to benefit our stone-bound people. But my father, Trian, the Assembly… all they wanted was tradition. ‘It’s tradition that we do this.’ Or ‘We must do this because of tradition!’ So maybe I got a little too vocal about my opinions. People started speaking out against me, calling me mad with ambition, mad with power. But Vartag… he was my… friend. Probably the only one I had at that time. He listened to me rant and rave about how no one would listen to me. How no one would give me a chance to explain that our traditions were keeping is stagnant as a race. Two thousand years is a long time to be stuck that way.”

I nodded. I could see Bhelen’s point.

He continued, “So when Vartag started saying about how I’d make a better King… Well, I went along with it. I agreed with him mostly because I was angry at my father and the Assembly for not listening to me.”

“What of Sebestyan?”

“He wasn’t a politician. He was a people person. Everyone just adored him, even my father. But ‘Bes never took anything seriously. He loved the ladies, he loved the Provings, he loved the drink. And while he could charm the ear off of just about any dwarf he met, he often said he wouldn’t have made a good King. He even told me once he didn’t want it. ‘Let dour old Trian take that responsibility. Being King would be too depressing for me!’ Yes, I was jealous that Trian would likely get the throne, but at the same time, there was a part of me that didn’t want it any more than ‘Bes did! I just wanted people to hear me out as to why I thought we needed change… instead of laughing me out of the Assembly!”

“And Vartag?”

“I guess that Vartag took my ranting as me legitimately wanting the crown. Apparently, he must have had just as much a silver-tongue as ‘Bes. I never knew of his ambition to actually get me on the throne… Not when Trian and ‘Bes were still alive anyhow. I only wanted it after they were gone just to keep an Aeducan on the throne. After all, I was the only one left! But then my own father banned me from his deathbed! Even after all that had happened, he **still** refused to listen to me! I might’ve as well been born casteless instead of prince!”

“What happened down in the Deep Roads? How was Trian murdered?”

“We were all down there with Duncan and two other Wardens to help clear out an area of darkspawn…”

I heard Alistair sigh and saw him close his eyes briefly when Duncan was mentioned. Bhelen continued.

“I was with my father, Harrowmont,” he nodded at him, “and a couple of other deshyrs to clear out the main road to the thaig. Trian and his men were to help clear the way for the Grey Wardens, so they could venture deeper into the thaig, where some of the stronger darkspawn were lurking. And ‘Bes and his second, Gorim, were sent on a so-called ‘secret mission’ to retrieve an old Aeducan shield.”

“How did you know about the mission for the shield?” Harrowmont asked.

“Vartag told me. I am guessing he overheard you and my father talking about it.”

“What do you know about the actual murder of your brother?” I asked. “People seem to be convinced that you were the one who did it…”

“There was a short time when you left all of us behind during our mission… and as I said before,” Harrowmont’s eyes narrowed at Bhelen, “it was rather strange you knew exactly where to find the body.”

“I didn’t kill Trian!” Bhelen shouted. “We had our sibling rivalry, we had fights like any other brothers… but he was still my brother!”

“Then why pin the blame on Sebestyan?”

“I…” Bhelen seemed to falter. “I had someone come to me from one of the side tunnels and tell me that Trian had been murdered by ‘Bes. I didn’t want to believe it, so I had to go and see for myself. When I got there, I saw Trian in a pool of blood… with Sebestyan’s daggers in his back… and ‘Bes just standing there. That was when I ran back to get my father and everyone else.”

“Did you recognize the dwarf who told you about the murder?”

“N-no. He had a full helm on. It covered his whole face.” Bhelen was silent for a moment, then said, “Now that I think about it, that dwarf wasn’t there when we all confronted ‘Bes.”

“Seems a bit convenient, doesn’t it?” Harrowmont stated.

Bhelen looked like he was about to start shouting again, so I held up my hand. “Give me just a moment, Bhelen.” He curtly nodded and I pulled Harrowmont aside to speak with him quietly.

“Look, I know the two of you have your differences… but I really want to get this resolved tonight. I have a spell I can use, with Bhelen’s permission, of course, that will only allow him to speak the truth. I will then leave the two of you alone here to question each other about what really happened. If he is completely honest, then I want to have him forgiven. I’d like to have you keep him on the Assembly and I’d like you to actually consider listening to some of his ideas.”

“I respected his father very much. Very well, Warden. If he agrees to the spell, then I will question him thoroughly. If he is truly innocent, then I will also consider your proposition. However, I do want a guard in here with us. I can’t be in here alone and unprotected.”

“All right. Alistair and I will also be right outside the room, should you need us.”

Harrowmont agreed. Now I just had to convince Bhelen to let me use the spell. I walked back over to him and explained what it is I wanted to do.

“If it will help me prove my innocence in this whole mess, then I will do it.”

I walked behind where Bhelen was sitting and put my hands on his head. I then spoke the spell. “Chan fhaod e ach an fhìrinn a bhruidhinn.” <He can only speak the truth.> I then turned to Harrowmont. “You’ll have roughly an hour. We will leave now, but we will be close by.” One armed guard remained in the room with Harrowmont and Bhelen, close enough to react if needed, but also far enough so that the guard could not listen in. Alistair and I then left the room.

 

We had no idea how much time had passed, but eventually, the door opened and the guard asked us to come in.

“So, have you come to a conclusion, King Harrowmont?” Alistair asked.

“I am satisfied and I will leave it at that. Bhelen will remain on the Assembly.”

I gave a relieved sigh. I would have hated leaving Orzammar on a sour note. “Have you discussed any of his ideas?”

“Briefly,” Harrowmont nodded. “His ideas are very radical, but I can see where some of them do make sense. It will be… difficult to convince some of the other deshyrs, but over time, who knows?”

I faced Bhelen. “What will you do now?”

He gave a faint smile. “I won’t be staying in the palace if that is what you mean. Harrowmont is letting me move into his old estate with my mistress, Rica, while he and his wife move into the palace.”

“That is very generous of you, King Harrowmont. Hopefully, the two of you will work together for the benefit of all the dwarven people… and I guess we will see your army once it is time to face off against the archdemon.”

“I gave my word. We will be there when you call.”

“Thank you. Oh, and since I didn’t get a chance earlier, I really do appreciate the new robe. It is very lovely.”

“You are welcome, Warden Kylara. Thank you for all you have done for us. You will be leaving in the morning, I take it?”

“Yes,” Alistair said. “We need to make our way to Denerim and we also need to speak with the Dalish, if possible. They are the last treaty we have.”

“Well then, I wish you good luck on your further travels… and even though these are not your beliefs, may the Stone protect you.”

Alistair and I both bowed and then left.

 

No sooner did our door close when Alistair was ravishing me with kisses all over.

Even though I didn’t want him to stop, I did gently pull away from him. “Before we tend to those needs Alibear dear, I think we should have everything packed and ready to go in preparation for the morning, yes?”

“Practical as ever, love. Then let me help. The sooner we get that finished, the sooner we get to… play.”

I laughed lightly. “You are incorrigible.”

“Would you want me any other way?”

“Maker, no!” I kissed him lightly. “It is this side of you that gives me real hope for the future.”

“Glad someone appreciates my sense of humor. More so, since it is you,” he said as he kissed my neck.

“Ooh! That little bit of beard you left tickles!”

“Does it now? Hmmm…”

“Um, perhaps we could finish packing in the morning?”

“Good. I was just randomly shoving stuff into my pack anyways!”

I laughed as he dropped it onto the floor and swept me into his arms. We didn’t get to sleep for some time after.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 18 Anytime I have mentioned the term “earth”, here it just means dirt, not a reference to our planet. After all, This… Is… Thedas! XD 
> 
> 19 I had to do a little thinking about how Caridin would actually make a crown. The game, of course, offers no explanation, save that the Anvil of the Void is “magic” (Also at this point in my story it had already been destroyed… In the game you destroy it after Caridin makes the crown for you). So I looked into the temperature of lava, which can range from 700 to 1,200 °C (1,300 to 2,200 °F). Given the fluidity of the lava in Caridin’s cave, it would be on the higher end of that scale. I figured that could be used as a substitute for a forge. Pure 24-karat gold melts at 1,064 °C (1,948 °F). 18-karat gold has a melting point of 926 °C (1,700 °F) and 14-karat gold has a melting point of 879 °C (1,615 °F). So the more impurities the gold has, the lower the melting point. If the bucket and chain were made of wrought iron, that has a melting point of 1,538 °C (2,800 °F), the lava would not melt it. Being made of metal himself means Caridin could also handle these molten materials with no problem. Now, I am no expert in this field, so there could be factors I am not aware of, but for the purpose of my story, I suppose this will do for an explanation… Better than just saying, “It’s magic, that’s why.” :-P (There is also the slight issue that at those temperatures, your characters probably would not survive for very long, if at all! But it is a fantasy game. Not much else can be said about that… Lol.)
> 
> 20 What follow here for Bhelen is my own story, not canon at all. Yes, I have played as a dwarf noble and know how the story really plays out… I know that this FanFic was meant to be a retelling of the game, but I wanted to try something a bit different here. Heck, there have already been lots of things I have changed. Hopefully, if you’ve made it this far, you are still enjoying my own version of events. ;-)


	26. Down the Mountain and A Day Off (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their extended stay underground, Kylara and the group finally have some time before journeying towards Denerim. A day off by Lake Calenhad leads to some mischevious fun for our leading couple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lake Calenhad “fun”! Art by the super awesome (and patient!) Dragoncakes (https://shut-up-fight-me.tumblr.com/)
> 
> ** Mature Content Ahead **

After we had a hearty breakfast, we packed everything up. I did a double-check of our room to make sure nothing was getting left behind. Then we left Harrowmont’s estate.

I made a quick stop at the Shaperate to give them the rubbing I had made of the Golem Memorial in Caridin’s cave. Czibor was extremely excited and impressed.

“This is fantastic, Warden! The Shaperate never had much information on Caridin and his golems… much less proof of this magnitude!” He handed me several gold sovereigns. “I hope this will suffice as a reward. I must inform the Assembly at once of this new information! Thank you.”

As we passed by the Royal Palace, King Harrowmont, his wife, Bhelen, and his mistress all came out to bid us a final farewell. Harrowmont handed me a large, rather heavy bag. When I peered inside, there were a couple of hundred gold sovereigns glinting in the light. **21** Tears in my eyes at this generosity, I thanked him and then tied the bag shut again. I placed it in my pack.

“Words cannot express my gratitude for all that you have done for us, Wardens. I hope this small reward will aid you in your travels,” Harrowmont smiled at us. “Safe journeys!”

I knelt down and gave the new King a brief hug. He seemed a bit surprised but smiled after I let go. Then I shook Bhelen’s hand. He nodded politely.

I stood back up and we all left the Diamond Quarter.

 

Once we got to the commons, I decided to make one more quick stop before talking to Zerlinda.

“Where are you going?” Alistair asked as I walked off.

“I just wanted to thank the seamstresses for this new robe. I’ll only be a minute.”

“All right, we will wait here,” he said.

Stepping into the store, I had another surprise waiting for me. Nadezda, the former casteless I had healed, was sitting in the back. **22** Her hands were working quickly, sewing a new dress together. _Well, she did say she had nimble hands,_ I thought. _I am glad to see she is doing well._

She quickly stood and walked up to me with no signs of pain and no sign of recognizing me. “Yes, miss? How can I help you?”

I choked back the lump that had formed in my throat and smiled. “I just wanted to say thank you for this lovely new robe.”

“Oh, no troubles at all, Warden.” Nadezda smiled at me. “When Harrowmont himself came down to us and explained all that you had done for him, we were more than honored to help you in return.”

I smiled and bowed. Then I turned and left the shop.

As I approached my friends again, I saw Alistair had gone off to the side and was talking to another dwarf merchant quietly. A small box was handed to Alistair and he quickly stowed it in his pack. Of course, my curiosity wanted to ask him what was in the box, but I decided it could wait.

 

On our way to talk to Zerlinda, we passed by Dagna, who was sweeping the walkway just outside her father’s shop.

“Dagna, good to see you again,” Wynne smiled at the child.

“Oh! Oh, my! Thank you, Lady mage.” She saw all of the gear we were carrying. “Are you leaving us now?”

“Yes,” I said. We will pass close to the Circle Tower as we travel on the northern road towards Denerim… so I will make sure we get your message to them.”

She squeed in excitement and gave me a tight hug. “Oh, thank you, thank you! I will eagerly await their reply!”

“I’ll see if they can deliver their reply by messenger bird, as we won’t be coming back this way. Best of luck to you, Dagna.”

She gave us a huge grin and waved goodbye to us.

 

Finally, we approached the small shop that had been converted into the Chantry. Alistair, Wynne, and I stepped inside the building. There were quite a few dwarves in there now. We found Zerlinda sitting on a pew in the front, nursing her son. I walked up to her.

“Oh! It’s you!” she said quietly. “I-I didn’t know if you were coming back.” She finished nursing, put her baby to her shoulder and patted his back.

“I do apologize, Zerlinda, but we were down in the Deep Roads for over three weeks.”

“Three weeks! And you survived?! Praise the Maker!”

I was a little surprised at her statement, but I supposed it was to be expected since she had been under Brother Burkel’s care for so long.

“We stopped by to tell you, we received a reply from Brunnhylda, the dwarven farmer. She said she would be glad to take you and your son in. So you are welcome to travel with us.”

“You mean… to the surface? I-I don’t know now. Brother Burkel has been taking such good care of us.”

At the sound of his name, the Brother came out. “Zerlinda, child. What troubles you?”

“These generous people, who helped me find you, have offered to take my son and me to the surface to live on a farm with a friend of theirs… But I am a little frightened at the prospect of leaving Orzammar behind.”

“My child, you must do what is right for yourself and for your son. While I can succor you both here, your son is still casteless in the eyes of the deshyrs and the Assembly. If you want to give him a better life, perhaps you should consider going with them. They are good and noble people. I believe that the Maker brought them to us both in our times of need.”

Zerlinda was silent for a moment. Just then her baby cooed and reached out a small hand toward me. I smiled and let him grasp my finger.

“The Maker always gives you a sign when you need one, child,” Brother Burkel nodded gently.

Zerlinda gave us a shy smile. “All right. We will go with you.” She stood up and went over to the corner of the converted shop and got her small bag of belongings. “Brother Burkel, thank you for everything.”

“Go in peace with the Maker’s Blessing, child.”

 

When the massive outer doors to the city opened, we had an overcast sky greet us after more than a month underground. The air was very chilly and I shivered. After finally getting used to all that heat inside Orzammar, I figured it would take me some time to reacclimate to ‘normal’ temperatures again. Both Oghren and Zerlinda looked up fearfully at the sky above.

“Ah, just give me a moment here, Warden,” Oghren said slowly, clearly trying to show bravery in front of us all.

“Everything all right?” I asked.

Oghren coughed into his fist and then gruffly replied, “Of course everything is all right. Feh!” He took a deep breath and looked up again. The clouds were now moving away to reveal a gorgeous, late autumnal day. “By the Stone,” he murmured. “Look at all of that sky up there. I feel like I’m about to… fall off the world.”

Zerlinda clung tightly to her baby. I placed my hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring look. Turning back to Oghren, I then asked, “Is it that strange to you?”

“Strange? Ha! No. Strange is your wife turning out to prefer the ladies… not living in a world without a bleedin’ ceiling!” He gave me and Zerlinda a big, goofy grin. “Well, let’s get going! We’re losing… whatchacallit? Daylight.”

I turned back to Zerlinda. “Are you all right?”

“I-it is a lot to get used to. But I trust you.”

“All right then!” I breathed deeply of the fresh mountain air. “Let’s get moving!”

 

As we proceeded down the mountain trail, I was actually quite surprised to see Oghren politely chatting with Zerlinda. She still seemed to be a little on edge about being outside of Orzammar and Oghren was helping by trying to distract her from her concerns.

Around noon we stopped in the shade for a lunch break. Zerlinda changed and fed her son while I passed out some travel rations that I had bought in Orzammar.

Once I was done, I sat down next to Alistair. He gave me a smile.

“It’s good to be outside again, isn’t it?” I said.

“Yes, it really is. It is such a beautiful day.” He leaned forward and gave me a tender kiss, then sat back and nibbled on his food. All of us still had rather light appetites, considering how long we had been with hardly any food during our time in the Deep Roads.

“It’ll be good to get back down to the lake. I haven’t had any fresh fish for so long, I’m kind of craving it.” Zevran said with a grin.

“Yes,” Leliana sighed. “No more nugs or bronto! All that meat was so… heavy.”

“How did you eat in the Chantry?” I asked.

“We ate simply,” she replied to me. “Lots of whole grains and vegetables that we grew in our garden. Occasionally we did have fish or fowl, but mostly that was on special feast days.”

“Yeah, it was like that when I was in the monastery during my Templar training years,” Alistair smirked. “Sometimes, late at night, I’d sneak down to the larder and help myself to some extra food…”

“Why did you do that?” Leliana seemed a bit shocked. “They always provided plenty of food during our mealtimes.”

“I was a growing boy!” Alistair grinned. “And when I got into the Wardens, it was even worse!”

“How do you mean, worse?” she asked.

“After my Joining, my appetite must’ve increased to what seemed ten-fold!” He laughed. “I’d eat and eat and never seemed to feel full! Duncan…” Alistair seemed to falter slightly but then smiled again. “Duncan said it was that way for a lot of new recruits. They all had a great laugh at my expense one night when they came downstairs and found my face covered in gravy!”

“Better be careful there, lover… or you’re going to grow out, rather than up,” I said with a snicker.

“Oh, and what about you?” His eyes twinkled. “I caught you leaving the tent on more than one night to grab some extra food for yourself!”

My eyes widened at his comment “Hey! You weren’t supposed to blab about that!”

Everyone in our group started laughing. Even Zerlinda giggled slightly.

He leaned in closer to me and murmured, “Does this mean I am in trouble?”

“Oh, you just wait until tonight…”

“Is that a promise?” he gave a low chuckle. “If so love, I look forward to it.”

 

As the sun was going behind the mountains, we came to the small road that led to Brunnhylda’s farm **23**. Zerlinda looked relieved, but only for a moment. Loud barking from the farm was rapidly coming towards us.

“What is that sound?” Zerlinda asked, panic in her voice. “Are we being attacked?”

Alistair smiled and said, “Looks like someone couldn’t wait for us to get to the home, huh?”

The brown blur got closer and closer. Zerlinda squealed and hunched down, holding her baby tightly. The infant began to cry.

“Winston! Heel!” I held up my hand.

Winston skidded to an abrupt halt. He sat down, cocked his head, and whined as if to say, _You’re not happy to see me? Did I do bad?_

I knelt down and then held my hands out to him. Slowly he walked up to me. “It’s all right boy, but you were scaring some of our new friends. They’ve never seen a dog before.” I turned to Zerlinda. “It’s all right, he means no harm to you or your son.”

She slowly stood up, her son was still crying. “A-are you sure?”

“Yes. Zerlinda, I’d like you to meet Winston. He is my Mabari.”

She looked at the dog who stood as tall as she did. “You didn’t have him with you in Orzammar.” She tried rocking her baby, but he was still crying.

“No, he stayed behind here at the farm. Brunnhylda thought he might not be welcomed in the city.” I made the ‘come’ gesture to Winston with my fingers. He obediently came up next to me and sat down again. “Winston, this is Zerlinda.”

He gave a gentle bark.

“Hold out your hand to him, Zerlinda. Let him sniff you.” When she still hesitated, I reinforced. “He will not hurt you or your son. I swear.”

Zerlinda held out her hand and Winston sniffed it. Then he sniffed the baby and gave it a lick. At first, she looked horrified, but then her infant started giggling. Winston sat back on his haunches and looked pleased with himself.

“He was just saying ‘hello’ to your son.” I smiled.

“I… see that now. May I… touch him? Your dog?”

“Sure.”

So Zerlinda came up and touched Winston on his head. “You are a big dog, but you are nice, aren’t you?”

“He likes being scratched behind his ears,” I said. While Zerlinda gently scratched Winston, who was making happy noises now, I faced Oghren. “You can come up and meet him too, Oghren.”

“I, ah… Thanks, Warden. But I’ll just admire it from a distance… for now.”

Just then there was some shouting coming from the road to the farm. Brunnhylda was coming towards us. “Dag blasted hound! Where’d ye run offta?!” Then she saw us all standing there. “Oh! Ye all back! I wuz wonderin’ why ye dog had run off. Guessin’ he smelt ye all.” She faced me and asked, “Can ye summon t’light thing ye did while back, Kylara? ‘S getting dark and I’d like t’meet everyone. We can head back to me farm.”

So I summoned the glowing light as Brunnhylda had requested and we all walked down the path to her home, my light floating above us all.

“So, how are the horses, Brunnhylda?”

“Ah, they be fine.”

“No troubles then? No more darkspawn threatening you?”

“Nothin’ at all! I saw what ye did, how ye covered up t’hole. Mighty impress’ve magics ye got there, Kylara.”

I blushed and I felt Alistair squeeze my hand. “Told you so, love,” he whispered in my ear.

Finally, we reached the farm. The horses I could see from the light of the orb were in a nearby paddock, munching contentedly at the grass, or resting. I couldn’t see Bodahn’s mule, but I was sure it was there too.

Brunnhylda finally turned to Zerlinda. “Forgive me for not sayin’ hello earlier, but I wanted t’get back to t’homestead. You must be Zerlinda?”

“Y-yes, ma’am. I am. I am Miner Caste… or I was,” she looked at the ground.

“Pssht. Castes mean nothin’ t’me here. I am a free dwarf, not bound by them fool politics undaground. Don’t care nothin’ ‘bout stone sense. I live, breathe, and work out here. Trade it for nothin’ else.” She put a hand on Zerlinda’s arm. “It’ll take ye some gettin’ used to, but I’m thinkin’ ye gonna love it ‘s much as I do. And ye son will no longer have t’have his face marked.” She peered at the small infant, who had fallen asleep. “What’s his name?”

“Ah, um… I named him Halvar.”

“Good strong name he got.” Brunnhylda smiled. “And who be the strong, handsome fella there? He be new too.”

“Oh, yes,” I said. “He came with us from Orzammar, to join us on our quest to fight the darkspawn. Brunnhylda, this is Oghren. Oghren, Brunnhylda.”

“Nice to meet’cha.” Oghren grinned and shook Brunnhylda’s hand.

“I also got someone for ye t’meet.” She turned to the house. “Runa! Rooona!! Come on out! Got some folk ye need t’meet.”

The door to the home slowly opened and a tiny dwarf child came out. “Yes, mamma?”

“I wanna intr’duce me daughter, Runa. Runa, these here folk are t’fine friends of me cousin Bodahn. And this nice lady be Zerlinda and her baby son, Halvar. They be stayin’ with us now.”

“I didn’t know you had a daughter,” Alistair said with a smile. “We didn’t see her the last time we were here.”

“Ah, she be shy ‘round strangers. Also, it was late last time. She was sleepin’. G’on back t’home, Runa. We need to get supper for everyone and show Zerlinda her new room.”

Runa nodded and went back to the house.

“G’on and set up ye campsite and fire. I’ll get some stew prepped and bring it out t’cook. Zerlinda, ye come with me.”

“Okay,” she said, hope showing on her face for the first time. She bowed graciously to us and murmured, “Thank you.”

 

Within the hour, we had our tents unpacked from the cart and set up around a toasty campfire. Just like the last time we had been here, Brunnhylda’s generosity knew no bounds. She brought out a large kettle to stew to cook, along with some squash and potatoes to roast over the coals. She also brought out more bread, a jar of homemade jam, and more of her brew… though with Oghren present, she brought out extra. He grinned at her after taking a large swig from one of the jugs.

We all sat around the campfire after eating all of the delicious food, enjoying the beer and chatting lively. Zerlinda, however, had politely refused the beer, since she said she was nursing. Oghren laughed at that.

“Pretty sure my mam had been imbibing plenty when she had me on her teat!” He took another large swig of the homebrew. “Prob’ly explains why I love it so much!”

“Pappy loved mamma’s beer too,” Runa piped up. “I wanna try some, but mamma says I’m too small.”

“Yes. Ye still be too small for ye mamma’s drink. But someday I teach ye to make it.”

“Um, if you don’t mind my asking, Brunnhylda. Where is Runa’s father?”

“Ah, tragic acciden’, that be. He was workin’ t’fields one day and was taken by t’spawn.”

“Darkspawn? Here?” Zerlinda looked around nervously.

“It be three years ago, Zerlinda. Also, Kylara’s magic sealed up t’hole. We be all right here.”

“Wait… that hole I sealed had been there for three years?” I said, aghast.

“It hadn’t been used since t’spawn took ‘im. ‘Twas all overgrown! Hadn’t seen nothin’ of them until just before ye showed up t’first time, Kylara.”

“Oh, well, I suppose with the Blight, that would make some sense,” I said softly. Then I whispered to Alistair, “I think I’d like to double check it in the morning. Now that there are children here, I want to absolutely make sure this farm is safe before we leave.”

“Yes, I agree with you on that, love,” he whispered back.

Back to Brunnhylda, I said, “Thank you so much for everything, Brunnhylda. For not only taking care of our horses and Winston while we were in Orzammar but also for all the wonderful food. I think we all need to get some sleep now.”

Everyone nodded as Runa yawned.

“Up past ye bedtime lil’ one. Come now, we clean in t’morning.”

“’Kay mamma.” Runa then said, “G’night, friends of mamma.”

“Goodnight, Runa,” I said with a smile. “It was lovely to meet you. Zerlinda, we’ll see you in the morning before we head out.”

Zerlinda nodded. “Goodnight, everyone.” She then followed Brunnhylda and Runa into the house.

Now, with Oghren in our group, we just had to figure out who would sleep where.

“I’ll sleep in the open tonight,” Sten said. “Let the dwarf and the elf bunk together.”

“Very well, Sten. Will that be all right for you Zevran, Oghren?”

“I… guess so?” Zevran glanced at Oghren, who was scratching absently at his ass and picking his nose at the same time. He then gave me a look that clearly said, _Help_?

“We’ll try it tonight and see how it works out.” I then followed Alistair into our tent. “Goodnight everyone.” Before I closed the flaps, I saw Winston settle himself down in front of our tent. Kneeling down, I scratched his ears. “Night, Winston.” Then I closed the flaps and tied them shut. I then murmured the privacy spell before turning to my Alibear.

He had just taken off the last piece of his armor and then lay back on the bedroll, gazing at me with love in his glowing eyes. I took off my new robe and boots as quickly as I could, then knelt down next to him, dressed only in my underclothes.

“I am so hungry,” he said with a smile.

“You mean to tell me with all you ate tonight, you still didn’t get enough food?” I joked.

“I could be surrounded by a massive banquet right now and I’d still be a hungry man.” He reached out and pulled me towards him.

“Why is that?” my voice dropping to a sultry pitch.

“Because there is only one thing right now that will satisfy my craving,” he whispered just before his lips brushed up against mine.

“And that would be?” I purred.

“You, my love,” he moaned as he kissed me passionately. “Only you.”

 

The crowing of the cockerel woke me up. I untied one of the strings holding our tent flaps closed and peered out. It was barely dawn. I groaned.

“Mmph…” I heard Alistair mumble. “C’mere you. Too early to get up…”

I crawled back over and lay in his warm embrace, my back against his chest.

He draped his strong arm over me and nuzzled my neck. I started drifting off back to sleep, but that didn’t last very long. The nuzzling turned to kissing; the hand draped over me began drawing lazy circles around my right nipple. I laughed lightly.

“What’s so funny, love?” Alistair mumbled, his voice muffled against my neck.

“You are.” I smiled and turned my head just enough so that my lips could meet his for a quick kiss. “You say, ‘too early to get up’, making me think you wanted to go back to sleep, but what you really want is…”

“You… Want you again,” he completed my sentence, his voice still muffled. “Told you last night… still wanna make up for lost time.”

“Are we trying to set a new record for most lovemaking sessions in one day, my Alibear?” Though he couldn’t see my expression, I grinned. That quickly changed to a moan as he lifted my leg slightly and slid into me from behind.

“You don’t seem to have any complaints, love,” he said, sounding a bit smug. He began to move faster.

“With you?” I panted, already getting close. “Never…” I reached down and quickly brought myself to completion.

“Mmm, sensitive this morning, aren’t you?” He thrust hard a few more times and groaned as his own release set me off again. “Very sensitive…” he breathed. “I love you, Kylara. So very much…”

We lay together for awhile, basking in each other's warmth. Finally, I slowly sat up and retrieved a rag and my water-skin. I wet the rag and then gently cleaned both him and myself. I then kissed him. “What would I ever do without you, my crazy, lovable, Alibear.” I grinned and then said, “Come on, let’s get dressed and get up. We have to get everything loaded back on the cart, and I still want to check that Deep Roads entrance.”

He gave me a wink and replied, “As my lady wishes!”

 

After getting dressed and our belongings and tent packed up, the two of us walked back to the field where I had used my magic to seal up an entrance to the Deep Roads. There was no change that I could see. The grass and flowers were still there and there was no outward sign of taint or corruption.

“All looks fine here,” Alistair said.

“But looks can be deceiving. Now that there are two children here, I want to make sure this is absolutely safe before we leave. I would have wanted to check it anyways even if it had only been Zerlinda’s infant here.”

He nodded. “So what do you want to do?”

“Take my hand. Let’s reach out with our senses. See if we can detect any darkspawn first.”

So he did. When he also saw me place my other hand over my crystal necklace, he copied the gesture as well. We both closed our eyes and reached out, using our Grey Warden senses and some of the magic in our necklaces. I felt like I was seeing further than I ever had before. Behind my closed eyelids I could see miles and miles of the Deep Roads stretching out before me; a vast network of interlocking tunnels far below the surface going far deeper than the portion we had explored.

After several moments of silence, I pulled myself back.

“No immediate threat,” I mused. “If there are any darkspawn down there, they are heading away from this location. They must be heading south… to wherever the archdemon is keeping itself hidden.” I shuddered, remembering the gigantic tainted dragon we had seen near Bownammar.

“But we know they are spreading. Lothering is already gone,” Alistair said thoughtfully. “I wonder in the time we’ve been away from there how much further into the Bannorn they have moved.” He sighed. “With just the two of us, how much of Ferelden will be lost to the Blight?”

“We must not lose hope, nor faith in ourselves. Even with us being the only Wardens, we still have our friends supporting us. We will have the mages, Redcliffe, and the dwarves support. And when we find the Dalish, we’ll get their support too. We will do what we must. We will stop the archdemon.”

“But how?”

“Sooner or later it will make another appearance. We just need to kill it when it does.”

He gave me a somber look. “You make it sound so easy. But are you aware that in Blights past, they lasted for years and years? The shortest one lasted twelve!”

“Be that as it may, I will do everything in my power to keep the people I love safe! I will not give up.”

“Nor will I, love. I was only trying to be realistic,” Alistair replied defensively.

“I know,” I gave him a small smile. “That is why I think we work well together.”

“You’re right.” He leaned down and kissed me lightly. “We should head back. Surely the others are up by now. We can also give Brunnhylda the good news.”

 

As we approached Brunnhylda’s house, we saw that everyone was up and packing, though I saw Zevran looking a bit grouchy. When Alistair went to assist Wynne with her belongings, I pulled Zev aside.

“What’s bothering you?” I asked.

“I refuse to share a tent with that… dwarf again!” he whispered angrily to me. “I’d rather put up with Sten’s snoring than have to… Do you know how many times he passed gas last night?! I feel like I must disinfect myself!”

I had to hide my laughter as I could clearly see that Zev was truly unhappy. “All right. We will rearrange everything tonight when we make camp. For now, let’s put it aside. We must all try and get along as best we can, so we can do what we must.”

“For you, my dear, I will try.”

“Thank you, Zevran. That’s all I can ask of anyone here.”

“Perhaps a quick kiss to seal the deal, yes?” He gave me a flirtatious wink.

“Zev…”

“I jest!” He took my hand and pressed his lips to it briefly. “Really now, Kylara, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t try!”

“I suppose that is true… Feeling better, then?”

“As long as I don’t have to sleep next to him anymore, yes.”

“Wuz that, elf? You talkin’ ‘bout me?” Oghren said as he walked past us.

“Nothing important, Oghren,” I said. Let’s get everything packed on the cart.”

As we continued packing, Brunnhylda came out with a huge basket full of muffins, Zerlinda behind her with a large pot of kafija. “Brek’fas’ for ye all!” she shouted out.

We took a break and enjoyed some very delicious fruit and grain muffins. Zerlinda poured us all some of the kafija she had brought out.

“Brunnhylda? Do you have any milk and sweetener for the kafija?” I asked.

“What ye need tha’ for? Drink it straight! It’ll put hairs on ye chest!”

My mouth fell open in surprise.

Alistair snorted into his mug and burst out laughing, quickly followed by everyone else.

“Ha! I kid, I kid,” Brunnhylda said, still laughing. “I’ll get ye t’milk n’ sweet’ner.” She ran back into her house and then came back out with items. I gratefully took them from her and mixed them into my hot drink.

Oghren stared at the hot beverage in his mug. He sniffed it and made a face. “Whatcha call this stuff?” he grunted at Brunnhylda.

“Ye neva had kafi? She looked at him incredulously, then harumphed. “O’course no. Ye only ever drunk tha’ swill from Tapsters, huh?”

“I’ll gladly drink some more of your homebrew, if’n you got more,” he said and grinned at her.

“Beer for brek’fas?” She made a face but went back into her house again. When she came back out, she handed a jug to Oghren. She sighed. “Neva will undr’stan city dwarves,” she mumbled.

Once we had finished our meal, I thanked Brunnhylda again for her kindness.

“Ah, t’wern’t nothin’. I jus’ be glad for the comp’ny. ‘Cept for the few dwarves from Orzammar or human from the lake towns comin’ to buy me food, I don’ get much comp’ny. Still,” she mused, “I like t’peaceful life here.” She walked over with me to her cousin’s cart. The horses were all tethered to the fence and the mule had been hitched up and we were just about ready to leave.

Zerlinda then approached, carrying her son. “I don’t know how to thank you for everything, Kylara. The outside was a bit scary at first, but I am really starting to enjoy it here. Halvar seems to like it too.”

“Told ye ye’d love it,” Brunnhylda smiled. “I got lots t’teach ye, but ye’ll learn quick.” She turned to me and said, “I pack’d yon cart with lots of veg’tables and some more of me homebrew… Try n’ keep that Oghren away from it though, or he be leavin’ ye none!”

I smiled. “We will do our best.” I walked over to my mare.

Oghren then came up to me. “So this is our transport, huh? They’re a bit… tall.” He then saw Winston walk by. “Tell you what, Warden. How’s about I ride that dog of yours. Seems to be the right height.” He started walking after Winston. “Hey, Dog! C’mere you!”

Winston turned and growled at Oghren. He backed away slowly, then turned and stomped back over to us.

“Well, that’s gratitude for you! I just thought I’d make him feel useful.”

“He not a mount, Oghren. He’s a wardog.”

“He’s a what now?”

“A… ah never mind. Look, Wynne isn’t using her mare and its the smallest of the horses here.”

“You makin’ a crack about my height too, Warden?”

I rolled my eyes. “No. I just mean it should be the easiest to ride.”

“An’ how am I gonna get up there? You plannin’ of givin’ ol’ Oghren a boost up there and helpin’ me down too?”

I sighed in exasperation.

“I have me an idea here, Kylara,” Brunnhylda said. “I have me an older pony that Oghren can use. It’d be easier for him t’get on and off it too. Lemme keep t’mare and I’ll swap it for t’pony and a saddle for it too.”

“Will that work for you Oghren?” I asked him.

“Hrmph, I guess so.”

So Brunnhylda lead the mare to her barn and then came back out with a pony that had a silver-grey coat and a pale mane and tail… It was about 9 hands at its withers. “This here be Apall. Means, ‘gravel’ if’n ye care to know. He be a good sturdy and smart pony.” She put the saddle on him and then said to Oghren. “I’m s’posin’ ye ain’t never ride, bein’ from under t’mountain. Just put ye foot here,” she indicated the stirrup, “an’ ye hand here,” she pointed to the horn of the saddle, “an’ hoist yeself up.” She watched Oghren struggle for a bit, the finally gave him a hand to get himself seated. “It’ll take ye a bit o’ practice, but Apall is patient. He’ll let you learn.”

“Don’t see why I gotta ride this… You’d think the golem could just carry me,” Oghren muttered.

“Did the drunken dwarf say something?” Shayle finally spoke up. She had been remarkably quiet on our way down to the farm. _Funny how I am getting used to thinking of Shayle as a female so easily,_ I thought with a smile. Shayle continued, “Because if it thinks I will carry it, the drunken dwarf will become a smear on the mountainside.”

“Fine, whatever,” Oghren grunted. “Let’s just get going.”

I mounted up onto my own mare and we started heading down the path, stopping briefly to wave goodbye to Brunnhylda, Zerlinda, Runa, and Halvar.

“Safe journeys!” Zerlinda called out to us. “And thank you again for everything!”

“Fare ye well on t’road!” Brunnhylda shouted. “An’ if’n ye see me cousin again, tell ‘im ‘hello’ from me!”

“We will, Brunnhylda! Thanks again!”

 

Heading down seemed to make the journey faster. By lunchtime, were at the old campsite we had used before heading up into the mountains. After we had had a light meal, we mounted back up and turned the horses northeast, following the road that would lead us towards the Circle Tower.

By sunset, we could just see the Tower off in the distance.

Alistair reined in his horse. “Seems like a good spot to make camp for the night. What do you think?”

“Works for me,” I grinned.

We tethered the horses to stakes in the ground, giving them ample lead to graze and have access to the water of the lake. Tents were also quickly assembled, a campfire built, and some fish and waterfowl caught and set to cook over the fire. Among the vegetables Brunnhylda had packed onto our cart, I found some squash and carrots. I put them into our stewpot and set about making a soup to go with the meat that was cooking.

Alistair was poking the coals of the fire with a stick when Oghren approached him, drinking from another flask. He let out a huge belch. Alistair had to fan the air in front of his nose at the stench. Oghren grinned.

“You know what would do you some good?” he grunted.

Still fanning the air, Alistair quipped, “A pair of nose plugs?”

Oghren snorted. “Go out n’ find a girl. Doesn't matter who, as long as there's no pants involved.”

Alistair did a double-take at Oghren’s statement. “What makes you think I haven't?”

“Boy, I can smell purity a mile away. It's a talent. I heard the others say you was raised in that Chantry, and I know what that means. That jus’ screams to me you haven’t had any.”

Eyebrows raised, Alistair asked, “Any what, precisely?”

“You know…” Oghren made a fist with one hand and then used the finger on his other hand to poke into the hole made by his fist.

“Hate to break it to you then, but your so-called talent is broken,” Alistair laughed. “You are aware that Kylara and I share a tent?”

“So what? I shared my tent with that elf the other night, but I sure as the void didn’t do nothing with him along those lines… no matter how pretty he looks!”

Zevran glanced up at Oghren, rolled his eyes, and shook his head.

“And what about our days in Orzammar, then?” Alistair said. “She and I were in the same room at Harromont’s!”

“Again, I say, so what? That doesn’t prove nothin’ to me!” Oghren shrugged. “I didn’t see you doin’ anythin’ with her in the Deep Roads, so why should I believe you did anythin’ at Harrowmont’s?”

“Oh, what’s the use?” Alistair sighed in exasperation. “It’s like arguing with a brick wall.”

 

Trying to decide who was going to sleep where was going to be interesting. At first, I asked if Morrigan would be willing to share her tent with Zevran, but the glare I got from her clearly said, NO. Leliana thought she wouldn’t mind sharing with him, but that would put Wynne with Morrigan. Again, she refused, although politely this time.

“Sharing a room at the estate, I did not mind… ‘twas a large room,” Morrigan said. “But I am a private individual, and the tent ‘tis too small for me to share in that regard.” She glanced at Wynne. “I am sorry.”

“Well, then. For tonight, would you mind sleeping in the open, Zevran? Let Sten and Oghren share this evening. Perhaps when we get to the next town, we can purchase another tent?”

“I suppose that is fine,” Zevran sighed. “So long as the weather doesn’t get too cold. I am from a hotter climate, and used to staying warm when I sleep.”

Matters dealt with, I went into our tent, Alistair followed. Once the flaps were tied closed and my privacy spell uttered again, I began to disrobe. Alistair sighed.

“Something bothering you?” I asked.

“Oghren. He doesn’t believe that you and I are together. He thinks that I… that I’m still…”

“Still what?”

Alistair blushed red. “He thinks I’m still a virgin!”

“So… what? Do you want us to have loud and obnoxious sex tonight just to prove to Oghren that you are a ‘real man’?”

“NO! Of course not! I mean, yes, I want to be with you… but we don’t have to… you know… announce it.”

“So what is the problem then?” I asked. “I know the truth. You know the truth. The rest of the group knows the truth. Oghren will eventually get the same message. So why let it bother you what he thinks now?”

Alistair laughed. “You know what? You’re right. I’m making a Frostback peak out of a Deep Road hole. Pretty stupid, huh?”

“It’s all right. I suppose it is a matter of pride for men to not be thought of that way by other men.”

“Kind of, yeah.” Alistair gave a half-grin. “When I was in the Grey Warden barracks, some of the other senior Wardens would boast about the women they’d been with. I’d listen in, you know. Kind of hard not to when they were rather loud in a small room. Throw some beer or liquor into the mix and their stories would get a bit… graphic in details. I kept quiet, of course, since I hadn’t… been with anyone back then.”

“And now?” I smiled.

A very pleased expression came to his face. “Well,” he drawled out, “now I **know** what they were going on about.”

I finished removing my boots and robe. “So, just how well did you listen in?”

He gave me a sexy smirk, “And why does my love wish to know?”

“I’m sure you’ll figure that out, real soon,” I replied as I brought my lips to his.

 

A gentle breeze coming in through the gaps in our tent woke me. I heard morning birds chirping sweetly. I stretched and sighed. _Seems a shame to have to travel on a day like today,_ I thought. _The weather feels so pleasant._ _I wonder if I can convince the others to take the day off._ Just then, the sounds of the chirping birds were cut off abruptly. _Shayle!_

I quickly slipped on my leggings, boots, and the slip part of the robe. Then I untied the tent flaps and started to head out.

“Where are you going?” I heard Alistair mumble.

“I’ll be back shortly,” I replied.

Shayle was standing by the shore of the lake. I ran up to her.

“Pity they have wings,” she muttered.

“You know, Shayle, not all birds are… evil.”

She turned to face me. “And it knows this how exactly? Was it frozen for thirty years while pigeons squirted their foul emanations on it?”

“Well, no, but I…”

“Then it cannot tell me that birds are not evil.”

I sighed. “I’m surprised you didn’t try to kill the rooster yesterday morning at the farm.”

“That was a clever bird. Every time I went to find it when it made that awful noise, it moved to a new location,” she grumbled.

I had to hide my grin at that. I stared out at the lake in silence for a bit, then I asked, “You’ve been very quiet since we left Orzammar. Is everything all right?”

“Why does it want to know?”

“Well,” I said softly, “Finding Caridin, finding out about your origin, finding out that you were once a… female dwarf. That must have been a lot to take in.”

She shrugged. “Caridin did shed some light on my past, this is true. But there is still a lot I do not remember. Perhaps…”

“What?” I asked.

“No, it isn’t important.”

“Please, tell me.”

She looked down at me with her odd glowing eyes. After a moment, she spoke again. “Very well. Some of the things that Caridin told me have made me remember where the Cadash Thaig might be located. I… was thinking that perhaps when its battle with the archdemon is over, that maybe it might want to accompany me to my old thaig to… search for answers?”

“Shayle, I would be honored to help you then.”

“Truly? Then I suppose I can thank it in advance.” She was quiet again for a moment, then said, “I have watched a lot of humans in my time. It should be aware that I have decided that it is… not much like any of them.”

“But I am still a human, Shayle.”

“Technically, perhaps. But according to the many years I spent frozen in Shadmoor, observing the average human there, I feel it does not have a lot in common with them. It must come from some superior lineage, yes? Some breed of flesh creature that had decided to elevate itself above the other’s shortcomings?”

“Well, I don’t remember much of my life before the Circle Tower, but I was always an excellent student while I was there. I studied very hard to become the best mage I could become,” I replied.

“Oh? That must be it then. I knew there had to be some reason for it… since it is still a human.”

“Um, thanks, I suppose.”

She leaned down to me and spoke in a slight whisper, “I would appreciate if it didn’t spread around that I said anything. Other humans might start to get the wrong idea. They might start thinking that their race is not completely hopeless!”

I stifled a laugh. “And we wouldn’t want that!”

She grinned. “This is why I am liking it more than my former master. It actually understands me.”

 

As I headed back to camp, I saw that Alistair was up. He was kneeling near the entrance to our tent and was going through his pack. I noticed him take out the small box he had gotten just before we left Orzammar and again I wondered what it could be. He clutched it in his hand and closed his eyes briefly. Then I saw him sigh and he stuffed it back into his pack.

I really wanted to know what it was, but I figured if it was something important, or something that involved me, he would have told me by now. I walked up to him.

“Morning, dear. Sorry that I rushed out on you like that.”

He smiled up at me, then stood up. “So what was so important that you had to leave our warm snuggling for?”

“Shayle. I was just making sure she wasn’t killing off the songbird population around here.”

“I see.”

“We also had a little chat. She says she thinks she might remember where her old home thaig might be located. She said when then archdemon is dead, that she’d like me to accompany her to it… to search for more answers.”

“No word of me coming along?”

“She didn’t say. But you know I certainly wouldn’t turn you down!”

“Yeah, you’d miss me too much!”

“Well, I’ll just have to aim harder then!” I laughed.

“Oh, haha! That is so hilarious,” he said with slight sarcasm, yet I could see the smile he was trying to hide.

“I could ask Shayle if you could come… but, oh.”

“Oh? Oh, what?”

“You’ll probably be King by then.” I sighed. “That means you will most likely have to stay… in Denerim.”

I saw Alistair’s face fall. “Ah… yes. You are,” he swallowed a lump, “probably right… about that.” He bit his lower lip and then muttered, “Yep, all over for me once that damnable, bloody crown is on my head. No more grand adventures for Alistair…”

“I’m sure it won’t be **that** bad, right? And I’ll come right back to you! I promise!”

“Best not make promises that we have no idea if we’ll be able to keep,” he said sadly.

A pall seemed to hang over us at that moment. “Alistair?” I said softly.

“Yes?”

“Let’s not… talk about that anymore. A lot can still happen in the months to come.”

“True, I could be dead.”

“Alistair!”

“What?”

A tear trickled from the corner of my eye. “W-why would you say such a thing?”

“Oh, Kylara…” He pulled me into his arms. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said something so crass like that. It’s just that… Ever since Eamon announced that he was putting me forward as the heir, I feel like my life is rapidly spinning out of my control. That every step we take closer to Denerim is like… a nail in my coffin.”

“Why are you being so… fatalistic?” I had a sudden horrible thought. “You aren’t trying to… push me away? Are you?”

“Maker’s Breath, no! I love you!”

“Then please, if you love me, let’s stop this awful conversation now!” I begged.

“Ignoring it won’t make it go away, love.”

“I don’t want to ignore it, Alistair. I just merely want to put it on hold for now.” I noticed our friend’s tent flaps were starting to open as they all got up. I lowered my voice to a whisper, “I just feel this should be a private conversation for us alone. Would you please do this for me?”

“Very well. It can be discussed later… and you are right. It’s not like me to be so damned depressing. I shouldn’t be making you cry on such a beautiful morning.” He leaned over and kissed my tears away, then lowered his lips to mine.

“Ah-ha! A kiss!” I suddenly heard Oghren shout. “That’s a promisin’ start there, boy!”

Alistair pulled away from me abruptly, his face beet red. Oghren laughed.

“Though if’n you keep blushing like the Chantry boy you are, you ain’t gonna get much further than that!” He walked off, still laughing.

“Hmmph,” I muttered. “Maybe we should have loud, obnoxious sex near him, just to get him to shut up?”

Alistair sputtered, but then started laughing. I joined in.

After a moment, he gave me a smile. “Well, that lightened the mood considerably!” He kissed my forehead, the asked, “Are we heading to the Tower today?”

“Actually, I was thinking that because the weather feels so great today… Do you think we could take the day off today? We could have some fun or just rest. Our time in Orzammar was stressful enough and I’m sure once we make a stop in Denerim, before making our way south to the Dalish… Well, let’s just say that I know things will get busy for us again, I’m sure.”

“You know, I think you have a great idea. Winter is starting to creep its way in. Let’s enjoy this nice temperate day.”

Leliana, Zevran, Wynne, and Morrigan all overheard and agreed. Winston barked happily.

“I can use the time to gather some healing herbs,” Wynne said.

Morrigan disappeared into her tent momentarily, then can back out with her mother’s grimoire. She settled herself up against a tree and began reading.

“What is going on?” Sten asked as he came out of the tent he had shared with Oghren. “Why are we not packing?”

“We are taking the day off. Just to relax and enjoy the nice weather,” Alistair told him.

Sten looked slightly puzzled. “Relax? What is this word in your tongue?”

“It means, rest, enjoy the day,” Alistair attempted to explain. “We’ll stay here for the day and leave in the morning.”

“And this is a good idea, why?” Sten glowered. “Do darkspawn ‘relax’ too?”

Alistair glanced at me as if to ask, _How do I answer that?_

“Look, Sten,” I said calmly, “It’s one day. You can still use the time productively.”

His arms crossed, he stared at me. “How?”

“Wynne is collecting herbs. Morrigan is studying new spells. Perhaps you can mend any damage to your armor from our time in the Deep Roads, or sharpen your sword. I bought a dwarven repair kit while in Orzammar. I’m sure it has some tools you can use.”

He gave a resigned sigh. “Very well. So as long as we move on as soon as possible.”

I went to the cart and found the toolkit. I then handed it to Sten. He nodded and then walked off.

Alistair walked up to me after Sten left and spoke quietly, “Nicely handled. I have to admit, he still puzzles me, sometimes. Everything is so… serious with him.” He then smiled at me. “So what do **you** want to do today?”

“There is a large open space on the other side of the road. I was thinking you could help me learn to ride my horse better. Ride as you do.”

“Well, not sure how much I can teach in one day, but sure, I’ll be glad to help. Do we have some rope in the cart? I’ll need a long length.”

“I think so, let me check.” I walked back over to the cart and did manage to find some rope. I tossed it down to Alistair. “Will that be enough?”

“More than enough. I’ll also need a very long and flexible branch.”

I glanced off in the distance and saw some trees. Deciding that it was also a good, flat area, we fetched my mare and then we walked over to the trees.

“That branch way up there looks good, but I have no idea how to get up there to reach it.”

“Leave it to me,” I grinned. “That branch up top?” I asked, just to confirm.

He nodded.

I pointed my finger and concentrated a fire spell about two meters down from the very top of the branch, then doused it with an ice spell. The branch, weakened by the elemental onslaught, snapped and fell. Unfortunately, it got caught in some other branches on the way down.

“Now what?” Alistair chuckled. “Do I climb up there and get it?”

“Nope… just give me a moment.” I murmured a wind spell and finally got the branch free from the tree. Alistair picked it up and began stripping the leaves off of it. “So what is the branch for?”

“I will tie the rope to your mare’s harness and then you will mount her. I will have you lead her in a circle from where I stand in the center. The branch will be like a lunge whip, though it doesn’t have the lash bit. We just have to make due with what we have available out here.”

“A whip? You have to whip her to get her to learn?”

“Maker’s Mercy, no! The whip is only used as a guiding tool, never as punishment!”

I breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Oh, that is good. I don’t like the idea of hurting animals in an attempt to teach them.”

“It is not the right way, that is for sure!” Alistair exclaimed. “Eamon once had a man who had come recommended as a Mabari trainer. He was perfect when being watched, but when he was alone with the hounds, he’d lock them in small cages, whip them, and sometimes starve them! I was only a child, but I asked him why he was being so mean to the dogs. He sneered at me and said, ‘They’re **war** dogs, boy! Not pets! Gotta make ‘em learn to hate and fear! Makes ‘em vicious’!”

“How horrible! What happened? Did you tell Eamon what you saw?”

“I tried, but got the brush off… He was **busy** , you know. Of course, me just being a kid, I just shrugged and decided I’d try again later.”

“Was this man finally caught in the act?”

“No, but I suppose the Maker saw to punish him in a fitting manner,” Alistair replied grimly. One of the Mabari had given birth to a litter of pups and this man took the last born, ‘the runt’, he called it, and he was going to drown it. Apparently, the mother dog wasn’t going to have that. So he’s holding the pup by the scruff of its neck. It’s yipping and crying and the next thing I knew, the mother dog leapt up and bit the man on his arm! She tore it to shreds and pulverized the bone. He dropped the pup and I caught it just before it hit the stone floor.”

My mouth fell open in shock.

Alistair continued, “So his arm is a nasty gushing mess and he hightailed it out of there faster than you could blink. Now here I am, a scrawny little kid with scabs on my knees, holding this tiny pup, and the mother dog was growling at me, blood dripping off her teeth. I was terrified she was going to attack me next! Slowly, I put the puppy on the ground and backed away, not wanting to look up for fear that she’d charge me! Fortunately, she just took her pup and went back to the rest of the litter to care for them.”

“How old were you then?” I asked softly.

“Five? No. Six, I believe. Eamon finally got word of what had happened and the man was fired. His arm apparently never healed right and I think I heard he later had to have it amputated. But it took years to undo all the damage he had done to Eamon’s dogs. I was scared to go back to the Mabari pens for a long time, but just before they sent me to the Chantry, I was able to go down there and pet them… to say goodbye.”

I couldn’t help it, tears ran down my cheeks.

Alistair dropped the branch and pulled me into his arms. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, it is not that. You just told the story so well, I could see it all in my head. You had such a sad and lonely childhood… I remember you telling us the story when we camped in this area not that long ago… about how you used to sleep with the hounds. They were your friends and then that horrible man came and ruined even that for you.”

“Yes, I was a lonely little boy, lonelier still when I was in the Chantry, which is probably why I made so many jokes. I figured if I could make them laugh… you know.” He sighed, then smiled. “However, that’s all in the past. Now, I have a lot of friends looking out for me.”

“Even Oghren?” I said with a faint grin.

“Yeah, even him. But more importantly, I have you.” He leaned over and gently brushed his lips against mine. Then he stood back up. “You are all right now?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Great,” He picked up the branch and then led me to my mare. “I think we should go ahead with your riding lesson for now.”

I nodded and got up onto her back, sitting up straight and comfortable in the saddle. I took the reins into my hands as Alistair tied the rope to the mare’s bridle with a slip knot. He then came up to check that I was holding the reins correctly. Satisfied, he then backed up, putting about ten meters between us. The remaining rope he folded back and forth in his hands. The rope was held in his left hand and the branch/lunge whip in his right.

“All right, get her walking,” he said, loud enough for me to hear.

I gently squeezed my legs against her and she began moving in a walk. When we made one full circle, Alistair asked me to have her stop. I did. He then had me walk her again for one full circle and stop again. He then came back up to me.

“Good, you have the basics down. Teagan must have given a pretty good lesson back in Redcliffe.

“Well, that, and I have been riding pretty much since then.”

“Still, it is always important to remember those basic lessons. Now, the trot is learned normally by one person on the rope and someone running along with the rider, counting out on the rise. **24** But since it is just me, I just have to count from here. You’ll start her with a walk again, then soften your reins slightly to indicate she can go faster. Give her a gentle squeeze with your legs again. then you will rise very slightly out of the saddle on the two count, sit on the one. So like this… Trot on. Rise on two, sit on one. Two… one… two… one… This way you are moving with her and your rear won’t get too sore.” He gave a grin. “Though I could always massage those aches away later.”

I smiled back wryly, “I’m sure you could… and probably still will.”

He laughed lightly, then backed away feeding the lunge line to the right length. Then he let me start walking with the mare again.

“All right, ready to trot?” he asked.

“Yes, I am.”

“Okay. Soften the reins, squeeze your legs, and trot. Two, one, two, one…” He kept repeating the number sequence and I would rise on the two. I also noticed that the rise was also happening when my mare’s outside leg was forward. This too, helped me keep track. After two complete circles, he had me slow her back to a walk and then stop. He came up to me and undid the slip knot.

“Are we stopping now?” I asked.

“No, but we need to turn her around. Can you do that?” I did, and he reattached the slip knot to her bridle. “So what you were just doing is called a posting trot. You can also do a trot when you are completely seated in the saddle. That will be a sitting trot. It keeps the same rhythm, but you will just allow your hips to move with her. We will try that now. All right?”

I nodded as he backed up again. Just as before, we started with the walk and then he had me move back into the trot. I felt a little awkward at first with the sitting trot, but eventually felt the rhythm and the count. I did three passes and then we stopped again. Once again he undid the knot and had me turn her again.

“When working in a circle like this, its always good to have the horse going in both directions. Circle work at the walk, trot, and canter helps horses develop the muscles that enable them to track correctly on any line, straight or curved. It challenges you to also coordinate and communicate clearly with her. Changing direction through the circle becomes a good test of your abilities. The leg which has been her outside ‘keeping’ leg now comes up alongside the girth and becomes the new inside driving leg. Does this make sense?”

“Yes, I think I understand.”

“Now for the canter, I want you to loose the reins and just lightly grip her mane. Don’t pull too hard, she won’t like that. I want you to do this at first to get the reminder of the feel of the canter, from when we rode to Shadmoor. The rhythm will be a quick one, two, three, one, two, three. You will remain seated in the saddle the whole time, but will gently move your hips in that beat. This is also why I had you practice the sitting trot, because in the canter, she’ll be moving a little too fast to try and go up and down, as you did with the posting trot. Understand?”

I nodded. It was a lot of information to take in, but I felt like he was explaining it well.

“So, start at a walk again, then posting trot, sitting trot, and then loose the reins… don’t let go of them, just shift your grip to the mane and I’ll use the lunge whip to gently encourage her into the canter. You just concentrate on the rhythm.”

So we did just that. When we got to the canter, I continued to sit straight, but let my hips be guided by her movements. It was exhilarating. We then slowed her down again and stopped.

“How do you feel? Want to go once more?”

I nodded. We reversed directions again and this time, he had me hold the reins for the canter. He also let me lead her into the movement myself with my legs and weight. It was so much fun!

Finally, we stopped, and he helped me dismount. He unfastened the rope and rolled it up. “I’ll keep the branch in the cart, just in case we ever get another opportunity to practice again,” he said as we started walking back to camp.

“Why didn’t you teach me the gallop?” I asked.

“That, my love, isn’t something we want to leap into. Galloping is really more for advanced riders. You have to have a lot of room, for one, to even get the horse up to speed. Two, it takes a lot of control. Could you learn someday? Sure. But now would too much, too soon. I wouldn’t want to risk her bolting, going out of control, or you getting hurt. Not at this stage.”

“All right. You are a good teacher. I’ll trust your word.” I smiled. “How did you learn so much about horses in the first place?”

“From my room at the castle, I used to watch the mounted guards at Redcliffe going through their drills. Also, at the Chantry, they had a small, special contingency of mounted Templars. I would sneak into their lessons from time to time and listen in.”

“And you remembered all of that? Wow. That is amazing!”

“Not really, it was all just recall. Now what I’ve seen you do with your magic? **That** is amazing!”

“Don’t belittle yourself! It may be recall, but you did it so well! You really made me feel safe on her, even at the canter speed! I don’t think anyone else could have taught me so much, so fast, and still make me feel comfortable!”

“Then how about this, love,” He gave a wide grin. “We’re **both** good!”

“Damn straight!” I threw my arms around him and kissed him deeply. It seemed to take him a bit by surprise.

He broke off this kiss and gently cleared his throat. “Ah… how about we get your mare tethered back up at camp first, give her a rub down and a treat… Then we can continue what you started just then. Hmm?”

“That… and more.”

One eyebrow quirked upwards. “More?”

“For a lesson that well taught? Let’s just say right now, I am very **hot** for teacher!” **25**

He laughed. “Perhaps I should teach more often?”

 

After getting back to camp, I ran over to the cart to put the rope and the branch away, then I got out a few carrots and an apple. Alistair was just finishing rubbing down the mare, praising her for a good workout. I then fed her the apple and carrots. She nickered in happiness and bumped her nose against me in affection.

Alistair and I then looked at each other. His eyes were glowing brightly in the afternoon sun. I knew mine were as well, from the look on his face.

“Where?” he managed to croak out, breathing heavily. “Tent? Or…”

“Swim,” I replied.

“Swim? Isn’t the lake a bit… cold?”

I touched his arm and murmured. “Cuidich gus ar cumail bho bhith a 'faireachdainn fuachd.” <Help keep us from feeling cold.>

He grinned. “I don’t know what you just cast, but I am guessing you want to get in that lake now, don’t you.”

I nodded.

He swept me up into his arms and then carried me to a grove of trees near the lake.

We quickly stripped down and draped our clothing on the branches of one of the trees. Down to just my underclothes and his braies, we both then waded into the water.

“Wow! That spell is fantastic! I know this lake is pretty cold, even in the middle of summer. But you have made it so that it just feels cool and refreshing to us!”

He dove forward and swam out a few meters, then resurfaced and shook the water off his hair.

“Kylara?” He looked around, but couldn’t see me. “Where are you?”

I jumped out of the water behind him, startling him. “Boo!”

“Oh, you crazy woman, you!” He grabbed me and pulled me in close.

I wrapped one arm around his neck, my other hand resting on his chest as we kissed hungrily. The hand I had on his chest slowly moved down until I was cupping his erection through his braies. He broke off the kiss and groaned in pleasure.

“Now what?” He breath coming out in gasps as I continued to rub and stroke him through his undergarments.

I gave him a sexy smile at him and in a hushed voice spoke a spell. Then I slowly dunked myself underwater.

“Kylara…” he whispered, even though I couldn’t hear him. “What are you… Oh! Holy Andraste!”

 

With an air spell around my head to keep me from drowning, I had slipped off his braies and taken him into my mouth. I felt his legs flutter kick a bit faster to help keep himself from sinking and giggled slightly. I placed light feathery kisses all over his shaft, used the tip of my tongue to gently caress the sensitive ridge on the underside, and then eagerly took him back in my mouth, sucking long and deep. Meanwhile, I had no idea what was going on above water…

 

“Ah!” Alistair’s eyes closed in bliss. The water – while not ice cold – was still pretty chilly against his now flushed and heated skin. He couldn’t see me under the murky water but felt me nibbling, kissing, sucking. “Maker’s Breath!” he whispered. “Shit… that feels… really good!”

Just then a sudden noise made him open his eyes in shock.

“Ho there, friend Alistair!” Zevran called out. “What are you doing out there in the lake?”

Leliana walked up as well. “You’re swimming? Isn’t that water cold?”

“Um… ah… y-yes. Swimming. Mm-hm…” he babbled nervously and grabbed a large lilypad that had been floating nearby. “W-water is c-cold! Yes…”

Zevran dipped his toe in the water. “Damn, that is cold! You must have ice-bear blood, my friend!”

“Is Kylara out there with you?” Leliana asked. “I don’t see her.”

“I-I… ah… not suuuure!” His voice rising in pitch abruptly as he felt me lightly nip him with my teeth. “M-m-might be out… gathering herbs?”

“But I see her robe there in the tree,” Zevran smirked. “Next to your clothes. She is gathering herbs in her undergarments?”

Alistair could feel his release getting close. He bit his bottom lip nervously. He really wished he could make Zevran and Leliana leave. “May – ah! Maybe s-she’s back at camp? I don’t know!” He glanced down at the water and muttered, “Shit, oh shit! I… ah!” Looking back up at his friends, cheeks pinkened, he garbled out, “For Maker’s sake, could you just please leave!”

Both laughing, Leliana and Zevran turned and left. “Enjoy your **swim** there!” Zevran called out behind him.

 

Mischief managed, **26** I slowly rose up out of the water. My air spell dissipated with a faint ‘pop’. I gave him a sexy grin.

“Maker! You are such a wicked woman!” he growled at me, though he had a faint smile twitching. “I believe I might need to punish you for such a naughty trick!”

“Punish me? Oh, dear…” I sighed. “I’ve been a bad, bad mage… haven’t I?”

“Yes, you have. Now if you will kindly swim over to that little island over there…”

“The one with the reeds?”

“Yes, love. That very one. I think that will be a nice, private spot for me to mete out your punishment.”

“Hopefully, this won’t be too severe? After all, I believe you still enjoyed what I did down there. Quite a bit, actually.”

“Hmm, last time I checked, you didn’t seem to mind being spanked…” he said softly with a teasing grin.

 

Much later, we finally got back over to the trees and got dressed. Alistair took a quick look at the red marks on my ass.

“I didn’t… ah, spank you too hard, did I?”

I shook my head. “No, dear. But I figured you would have known that from my cries of… pleasure?” I said, rolling out that last word.

He grinned at that and kissed me. “That’s good to know. I just don’t want to ever hurt you… you know, if I ever get too carried away?”

“I honestly don’t think you could hurt me in that way. You are a very considerate lover.” I reached up and stroked his face. He caught my hand with one of his own and kissed it. “But,” I said softly, “If this is a concern of yours, I read in a book once about… ‘safe words’.”

“What is a ‘safe word’?”

I finished putting on my boots and then said, “I can explain more before we go to bed tonight. I think we should just get back to camp. We need to get supper fixed and perhaps pack up a few items to make it easier for us to get going in the morning.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

We walked back together, hand in hand. Just before we entered the camp, he leaned over and whispered, “By the way, if Zevran or Leliana ask or say anything to you about… swimming… Just ignore them, all right?”

Confused, I looked at him? “What do you mean?”

“I’ll… explain later,” he replied, his cheeks blushing in the waning light.

 

We had a wonderful meal. Leliana had actually found and killed some ground-dwelling pheasants while she was out exploring this afternoon, and Wynne had found some chestnuts and other various cooking herbs along with her medicinal ones.

I made a tasty stuffing to go along with the pheasants out of some stale bread and the herbs and chestnuts (which I had roasted on the coals before adding them). Everyone complimented me on the food, even Sten.

“I have tasted many strange items since coming to your land, kadan,” he said, a smile cracking his normally impassive face. “But I really do enjoy the things you cook for us.”

“Thank you, Sten.”

“How did you learn to cook so well?” Morrigan asked. “You were locked in that Tower for so long.”

Wynne sighed slightly at Morrigan’s comment.

“Books,” I answered. “We had a massive library there and I spent a lot of my time reading when I wasn’t at my lessons.”

“Did you ever get to put any of the reading to practical use?” Leliana hummed.

“Every once in awhile. Sometimes I could go down to the kitchens and cook with the Tranquil. They didn’t mind.”

“No, they wouldn’t…” Morrigan muttered. Fortunately, only I heard her.

I sighed, then said, “I think we should all get ready for sleep now. I am sure if we get an early start, we should be able to make it to the Tower by the afternoon tomorrow.”

Everyone nodded and headed to their tents. However, I was surprised to see that Wynne was bringing her bedroll outside.

“Wynne? What’s going on?” I asked.

“Oh. Leliana and Zevran will share tonight. I don’t mind one evening out under the stars.”

“Are you sure?”

“Don’t worry about me, dear. I’ll be just fine. I’ll pull my bedroll close to the coals. That will keep me warm enough.”

“Well, if you’re sure…”

“Go on now, get yourself to sleep.” She made a shooing gesture with her hands.

I gave her a brief hug. “Goodnight, Wynne.”

“Goodnight, Kylara.”

 

Once in our tent, Alistair and I did spend some time talking. We did bring up our earlier discussion about what would happen once the archdemon was dealt with and his impending coronation. It was not an easy conversation to have, but we knew a lot would still happen between now and then. I promised we would continue to discuss it as it got closer.

There was a long silence afterwards. To lighten the mood, Alistair then told me what had happened at the lake when I was underwater. I burst out laughing. His cheeks turned red again with embarrassment.

“I'm sorry! I'm not laughing at you, Alibear!” I leaned forward and gave him a gentle kiss. “I mean, how was I to know that Zev and Leliana would wander that far from camp! I just wanted to give you a memorable experience!”

“Oh, it was memorable all right! I don't know if they'll ever let me live that down.” He chuckled. “But I think I got my revenge…”

“If your revenge was to make me come so hard I was practically seeing stars, then yes, you got it.”

“Can we do that again?” His voice dropped low and he then murmured, “I  **really** … enjoyed it.”

“I did too,” I purred. “So why don’t we then?”

So we did.

Did I see stars again?

Oh… yes.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 21 Really wish that were true! Gold in the game is not too hard to come by, but for all the crap you have to do for Orzammar, it’d be nice to get a really substantial reward! ^_^ 
> 
> 22 I know those that play are aware that the healing of Nadezda does not happen in the game. But I thought I should mention it here briefly for those reading who have not played. This was strictly my own tale here. :-D
> 
> 23 I know I should have notated this on the first mention of Brunnhylda from Bodahn back in chapter 18… but for friends and family reading this, she doesn’t exist. Just another made up character to give my tale more depth. I had fun writing her!
> 
> 24 Big thank you shout out to Candice (aka CloakingHawk here on AO3) who assisted me with the training basics that Alistair gives to Kylara on how to learn the Trot and Canter on her horse. G’day! 8-) Additional information borrowed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq0Q7lIXw8c and http://www.meredithmanor.edu/features/articles/faith/circle_change_direction.asp 
> 
> 25 I hope, if you know your classic 80s rock, that you get that silly reference! (Thanks to Van Halen!)
> 
> 26 Harry Potter reference? Why not?! Lol!


	27. Back to the Circle and Return to Ostagar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group finally arrive back at Kinloch - the Circle Tower. Kylara runs into Cullen again, who is still dealing with the trauma of his torture. Can she help him heal? Later, a vision tells Kylara it is time for her and Alistair to return to Ostagar for their own healing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to Padme4000 (http://padme4000.tumblr.com/) for helping me digitally edit the screenshots of King Cailan and the resurrected ogre.

After we dressed and had a light breakfast, I decided to help organize the items on the cart before we left for the Tower today. Since I was off in the distance, Alistair took the moment to once again take the small box out of his pack and stare at it.

“Whatcha lookin’ at there?” Oghren asked as he ambled up to where Alistair was.

He clutched the box tight and sighed. Then turning to Oghren, he asked, “So you and Branka were really married?”

“Tell you what, boy… You ever been married?”

“Of course not. I was raised in the Chantry, remember?”

Oghren laughed. “Right, right. Well then thank the hardest stone you can find. Marriage is for suckers.”

Alistair sighed again and put the box back into his pack. “So no pitter-patter of little Oghren feet running around the home cave, I take it?”

“Branka wasn’t exactly the ‘motherly’ type. Jus’ look at how she treated the others of her house!” Oghren spat on the ground. “Nah, all I ever got outta of that moss-licker was a headache, a deaf ear, a scratched-up back and a rash that took three different ointments to get rid of.”

“Wow, she gave up on you, did she?” Alistair rolled his eyes. “And here you are, a keeper, too.”

Oghren didn’t reply, so Alistair just shrugged and grabbed the bedrolls from the tent. As he started rolling them up, he noticed Oghren still just standing there, leering at him.

“Ah, don’t you have packing to do, Oghren?” he asked. “Why are you just standing there… staring.”

Oghren licked his lips. “So. With the boss, aye?”

“Pardon?”

Oghren’s grin got wider. “You and the boss. Rolling your oats.”

Confused, Alistair said, “I don't know – ”

“Polishing the footstones?”

“ – what you're – ”

“Tapping the midnight still, if you will…” He waggled his bushy eyebrows at Alistair.

“What are you going on about?” Alistair finally blurted out.

“You and boss lady over there.” Oghren pointed at me. “You’re bangin’ each other.”

Alistair’s face flamed red. “That’s a bit rude, don’t you think?”

“Not if it’s true.”

Alistair was silent for a moment, lips pursed, then said, “And what brought this on? Day before yesterday you were convinced I was still a virgin.”

Oghren’s grin looked as though it might split his face. “Let's just say that I got me an eyeful yesterday…”

Anger quickly turned to embarrassment. “W-what?”

“I was havin’ a stroll around the lake yesterday. Lookin’ for some new brew ingredients, you know, and then I saw the two of you. Together. You were both on a lil’ island covered in reeds and there you both were… Forging the moaning statue. Bucking the forbidden horse. Donning the velvet hat… all of that! I seriously thought my eyeballs were gonna pop outta my skull!”

Alistair’s eyes goggled. “J-just how long did you watch?!”

“Damn, I dunno. Why? Should I have kept track?” Oghren laughed. “Nah, I stayed until my flask ran out. But you were still going strong when I left.” He pat Alistair’s shoulder. “I’m proud of you… good on you sonny-boy!” Then he ambled off leaving Alistair staring after him.

I approached Alistair just after Oghren had left. Alistair handed me one of the bedrolls. “So what was that all about?” I asked. “What did Oghren have to say? You look a bit… upset.”

“No so much upset, love. More embarrassed than anything else.”

“Oh? What happened?”

“Let’s just say he believes me now…”

“Believes… ah,” I replied, getting what he was hinting at. Then I smirked. “He saw us yesterday, huh?”

“Yep.”

“Mm-hmm.” I shrugged. “Well, at least he’ll stop teasing you about being a ‘Chantry boy’ now.”

Alistair chuckled. “Perhaps, but now he has a whole new thing to tease me about.” He stood up and put an arm around me. “You don’t seem particularly perturbed by this. Why is that?”

“I won’t let it get to me, that’s all. If he doesn’t get the satisfaction from his teasing, he’ll eventually drop it,” I said softly. “You should try that too. Ignore his teasing, if you can.”

“I’ll try, love. I will.” He picked up the other bedroll. “Come, let’s get finished with the packing. I am guessing we should be able to make the Tower by late afternoon.”

I grabbed my pack with my free hand. Alistair did the same. After a quick kiss, the two of us walked to the cart and stored our belongings.

 

Once we stopped for lunch for the day, Oghren came up to me. I expected him to laugh and start up with the jokes, but he actually looked a bit flustered instead.

“What’s going on, Oghren?” I asked.

“So, uh… We are heading to that big ol’ tower on the lake, yeah?”

“Yes, Oghren. The Circle Tower. My old home before I joined the Wardens.”

“Isn’t there a pub down there by it?”

“Yes, I think it’s called The Spoiled Princess…” I sighed. “Are you that anxious for a drink?”

Oghren laughed nervously. _Nervous? Oghren? Was that even possible?_ “Well… truth is… before I married Branka, I had a thing for another girl back in Orzammar. She left and went to the surface a few years back. We, ah… stayed in touch… you know, few letters here and there. Last I knew, she was workin’ at a pub near Lake Calenhad. I think that might be the one.”

“So,” I grinned. “Old girlfriend, huh?” _Guess he’s over Branka already? Hmm._

“Well, yeah. S’pose you could call her that. Her name’s Felsi.”

“You’d like us to stop in there and inquire about her?”

“Could we?” He looked hopeful.

“I suppose we could. If we don’t take too much time,” I said with a slight warning. “We have to get to Denerim and find the Dalish.”

Oghren beamed at me. “Thanks, Warden! I appreciate this! Really.”

 

We got to the docks just as the sun was starting its early descent behind the Frostbacks. After getting our horses settled in the stables near the pub, we all walked to the tiny pub. Winston stayed outside with Shayle.

Once our eyes adjusted to the dim interior, Oghren’s eyes immediately bugged out a bit at the sight of a rather pretty dwarf woman wiping down tables in the back.

“There she is!” he nudged and whispered to me. Then looking a bit flustered, he blurted out, “Look, I wanna go talk to her, but you gotta back me up, got it?”

“Back you up?”

“Just… follow my lead, okay?”

While the rest of our group sat down at a nearby table, Oghren sauntered to the back where the girl was still cleaning. I followed behind Oghren and Alistair followed me.

“What are you doing?” I whispered to him.

“Ha! No way am I missing this,” he whispered back and grinned at me.

Oghren puffed up his chest a bit, then spoke to Felsi. “Are you sure you’re not a baker? ‘Cause you’ve got a sodding nice set of buns!”

Inwardly, I groaned. Alistair sniggered.

Felsi’s eyebrows raised. “Oghren. Well, look at what the nug dragged in.” She sighed. What are you doing here?”

“Ah, just tryin’ to kick back with a pint or two. Fighting darkspawn is a lot of soddin’ work you know!”

“ **You’re** fighting darkspawn?” Felsi seemed unconvinced.

Oghren glanced at me. I cleared my throat. “Um, yes! Oghren took on an army of hurlocks single-handedly in the Deep Roads.”

Alistair was trying hard not to bust out in laughter.

Oghren glared at him for a second, then quickly replied to Felsi. “It was a bit of a pain, you know… but it was a personal favor to the King of Orzammar.”

“Riiiight…” Felsi scoffed. “The whole surface to choose from… and you just **happened** to walk into the pub I work at?”

“Er, ah… well…”

I nudged Oghren. “Tell her it’s fate,” I whispered.

“What? Oh, right! It’s fate, Felsi. What can I say.”

“Fate? The ancestors have a sick sense of humor then.”

“Sure they do!” Oghren laughed. “You’ve had a good look at Lady Helmi, right? If her face isn’t a joke the ancestors are playing, then I’m a bronto’s behind!”

Felsi rolled her eyes. “So, Lady Helmi must be the Paragon of beauty then.”

I nudged Oghren again. “Tell her you’ve been thinking about her,” I muttered out of the corner of my mouth.

Oghren gave a toothy grin. “I’ve been thinkin’ about you, Felsi…”

She sighed again. “What do you want, Oghren?”

“Nothin’. Just thought I’d see how you were doing, that’s all. Well, that and maybe grease up the ol’ bronto, if you know what I mean…”

Now **I** rolled my eyes. _Smooth, Oghren… real smooth._

Felsi blew out a frustrated sounding breath. “Well, you’ve seen me. ‘Fraid you’ll have to go back to Orzammar for the bronto though.”

Alistair covered his mouth with his hand to cover his snort of laughter.

I cleared my throat. “Come on now, Oghren. We can’t waste any more time here. The Queen is waiting on us.”

Felsi glanced at me. “So the Queen needs a new fool, huh?”

Oghren nodded. “Well, it’s been fun Felsi, but I’d better go.” We turned to make as though we were leaving.

“Um, wait! You’re really leaving? But you just got here! I haven’t called you a worthless shaft-rat yet…”

Oghren turned back around. “Oh, you can’t keep the archdemon waiting now. You hurt its feelings and it just might turn this whole Blight around and go home!”

 _Oh, if only it was really that simple,_ I sighed.

“Well… you don’t have to fight it **now** , do you? Can’t you stay for a pint? You could call me a surly bronto, I could tell you that you smell like nug droppings…”

“I tell you what. I’ve got some things I’ve gotta do first, but I’ll come back when things’re settled… you frigid deepstalker.”

“Fine, but you better not keep me waiting, you cheap copper-plated sword-caste!”

He grinned. “Wouldn’t dream of it!” We walked back to the table where everyone else was waiting. “Heh! I still got it!”

“Wait. That was a **success**?” Alistair said, dumbfounded. “Are you sure?”

I glanced back at Felsi. She had a silly-looking smile on her face. “I guess so?” I mumbled and shrugged.

“C’mon now. Let’s head on over to that tower of yours,” Oghren said to me. “Sooner we get all our shit done, the sooner I can get back here!”

 

After we left the pub, I walked over to Kester’s modest home. His wife answered the door.

“Ah! Kylara, isn’t it?” she excitedly said when she saw me. “Kester still speaks of you. He’s so proud of you being a Grey Warden! Wait here while I go get him.” She shut the door.

A few minutes later Kester came outside to greet us. He shook our hands. “Good to see you again! So, whatcha be needin’ this evening?”

“Do you mind ferrying us across to the Tower?” I asked politely.

“Got business back there again, have you?”

“Yes. We need to speak to the First Enchanter about a potential new student. There are also some other things we can take care of there.”

“Well, that’s nice I reckon,” Kester smiled. He did a headcount of our group. “Nine… ten if I include the big stone fella there.”

“Actually Kester, Shayle is female.”

“Ah, really?” He leaned close to me. “How can you tell?”

“She was a female dwarf before she became a golem,” I explained.

“Oh.” He cleared his throat. “Um… listen, Shayle, was it?”

She nodded her stone head. “What does the boatman want?”

“Not that I’m tryin’ to pry, but how much do you weigh?”

“I am not sure. I have never weighed myself. Why does the boatman ask?”

“Just tryin’ to figure if you’ll fit in me boat, that’s all,” Kester explained.

“The boatman does not need to worry. I will stay on this side of the water.”

“Are you sure, Shayle?” I asked. “It looks like it might rain later…”

She nodded again. “I will be fine. Weather does not bother me. I will stay by the cart and horses and keep an eye on them. I… do not feel comfortable crossing the water, even if the boatman’s vessel could carry me.”

“Oh, all right then.” Kester seemed to think for a bit, then said. “I think we’ll make it in two trips if you don’t mind. Me boat might be able to carry all of you, but it’d be risky.”

“Two trips is fine, Kester,” I replied.

“So, who’s going first then?” he asked us.

Alistair, Leliana, Zevran, Winston, and I ended up taking the first ride across the lake. After we all disembarked at the base of the Tower, Kester gave us a wave and poled back across to get Oghren, Sten, Morrigan, and Wynne.

It took an hour to get all of us across, so it was night by the time we entered the Tower proper.

Knight-Commander Greagoir greeted us. “Ah, Wardens. What brings you back over here?”

“A couple of things, ser.” I suddenly saw Cullen enter the main hall. I tried to smile at him, but he quickly looked away, turned, and walked back out of the room. My heart crumbled. Alistair quickly saw and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. I then faced Greagoir again, who was waiting for me to continue. I cleared my throat. “Sorry, ser. As I was starting to say, we came to speak with the First Enchanter about a few things before heading back out. We’re actually on our way to Denerim.”

“I see.” The Knight-Commander turned around. “Where is everyone?” I heard him mutter. “Carroll? Cullen? Anyone?”

Cullen, who apparently had just been lingering on the other side of the door, reluctantly poked his head back into the main hall. “Yes, ser?”

“Take the two Wardens to the First Enchanter, please.”

Cullen hesitated, then finally said, “But ser, she used to live here. I think she knows the way to Irving’s office.”

“You are questioning my orders?” Greagoir’s eyebrows raised. “The Warden no longer lives here. Protocol dictates that she needs to be escorted. She should also be treated with courtesy as an honored guest.”

_Well now, that is a change from how I was greeted when I first came back here!_

“Yes, ser,” Cullen mumbled. He slowly walked up to us.

“Ah, Knight-Commander, ser?” Alistair said, suddenly and to my surprise, “I’ll stay here with the rest of our companions. I’ll let Kylara speak to the First Enchanter by herself.”

I realized that he was intending for me to actually try and speak to Cullen alone. I nodded as he gave me a smile.

“Very well. Cullen, escort young Kylara up to Irving’s office. You will then wait there until her business has concluded and then escort her back here. Understand?”

“Yes, ser,” he replied quietly.

“What was that?”

Cullen stood up straighter and spoke a bit louder. “I said, yes, ser.” He turned to me but didn’t look me in the eyes. “Come on, now. Follow me.”

 

After we left together, Cullen stayed ahead of me. He walked somewhat quickly and even though I could have kept up with him, I pretended to have some difficulty.

“Cullen, please slow down. I can’t walk that fast.”

He said nothing in reply but did slow down slightly.

I tried again. “Cullen, please. Can’t you talk with me? I’m not a stranger, you know.” I sighed. “We were friends.”

Cullen abruptly stopped, almost causing me to run into him. I saw his fists clench. “Friends,” I heard him mutter. “Ha! As if I ever really **knew** you. Knew any of you… mages.” He spat out the last word as though it was a vile curse.

I winced. Even though the attack on the Tower had happened over three and a half months ago, it was clear that Cullen was still having a hard time dealing with what had happened.

“Cullen,” I whispered. I gently put my hand on his arm to try and comfort him, but he violently shook it off.

“Don’t touch me,” he practically hissed. “You have **no** idea what I went through! I begged to the Knight-Commander to let me have some time away from here, but he said I needed to stay here. That in time I’d learn to forgive and forget. But I will **never** forget! **Never!** Do you understand?!”

“Cullen, no one is asking you to forget. But you do need to… forgive,” I said softly.

He turned and glared at me. “You have a lot of gall to ask that of me. You…” He closed his eyes and took a breath. Then he reopened them and continued. “You, who started the whole nightmare for me! Because you were infatuated with me! You tried to sway me from my vows 27 with your damning kiss! You… opened me to Uldred’s influence!” He backed away from me and stood up against the wall. “The… **things** he made me see!” He shuddered and took another deep breath. “Why should I forgive **any** mage… especially **you**!”

I was hurt, but his response made me angry as well. “Look, I understand you were tortured. I know what happened to your comrades! I was here too! I know what evil Uldred did! I know that some mages can be easily swayed by demons, but I am not one of them! I fought to save every last person here, no matter if they were mage or Templar! I killed the abomination that Uldred had become to free you, and this is the thanks you give me?”

Cullen actually looked a bit ashamed even as there was still anger on his face. He hesitated and then said, “How do you know you’ll never be tempted by a demon?”

“I already have been tempted.” Cullen started to nod, a slight sneer on his face, but I cut him off. “I beat the shit out of her to free not only myself from her foul influence, but from a child she had possessed.”

“Who?” he asked.

“Arl Eamon’s son, Connor.”

“Connor?”

“Yes. He’s a mage. He will be brought to the Tower soon. Probably after we finish dealing with the Blight.” Then I remembered another demon I had recently dealt with. “There was also another one who tried to possess a little girl in Shadmoor. The demon had shape-shifted into a cat and tried to trick the girl into freeing her from an enchanted prison. I put that demon in its place too!” I stared deep into Cullen’s amber eyes. “So don’t even **think** for one moment that I am the kind of mage who would ever take the ‘easy road’ to get anywhere!”

Cullen simply stared at me now. He blinked a few times, then simply said, “No, I suppose you are not.”

“Cullen, believe me when I say that I understand the trauma you are dealing with. I haven’t exactly had it easy since I’ve become a Grey Warden. I’ve almost died a few times…”

He eyes got big. “What?”

“We were betrayed at Ostagar by Loghain. Alistair and I almost died there. We were saved, thankfully.”

His eyes narrowed now. “How?”

“By a young mage and her mother who lived in the Korcari Wilds.”

“Apostates?!”

I sighed. “Yes, Cullen. Apostates. Mages not under Chantry watch. But I will have you know right here and now, that if it had not been for them, I would no longer be here to help battle the Blight. Not only did the mother rescue Alistair and I from Ostagar, but her daughter helped save me when Jowan tried to kill me.”

“You came across Jowan? Where is he now? We can send some Templars to apprehend him!”

“You needn’t worry about Jowan. He is dead.”

“Oh.” His lips thinned. “But what of the other apostates? This girl and her mother? Do I need to tell Knight-Commander Greagoir?”

“NO! Haven’t you been listening to me? Had it not been for them, I would be dead! Not all apostates are evil! Not all mages are evil! You need to learn this and move on with your life!”

Several doors had opened and I saw mage apprentices poking their heads out at the commotion.

Cullen glared. “Get back to bed! All of you! NOW!”

The mages quickly withdrew and the doors were slammed shut.

“Cullen… Was that really necessary?”

“They need to learn their place!” he growled.

“You are going to make them resent you,” I sighed. “If I held on to every grudge, every shit thing that has happened to me these last few months, do you honestly think I’d be able to do my job as a Grey Warden?”

He exhaled sharply. “You make it sound like it will be easy! Like I could just snap my fingers and that’s it. Erase the days of torture that I endured. Erase the memories of what Uldred did to my comrades, my brothers!”

“I never said it would be easy, Cullen. All I am asking is that you try.”

Cullen subtly shook his head, then turned and began walking towards Irving’s office again without any other words. I sighed again and followed. As we walked, I remember my vision of Cullen from the Temple of the Sacred Ashes.  _Because of Uldred, my anger towards you and other mages will remain for some time, but you must not let the guilt of it weigh you down…_ I could only hope the vision would come true in time…

 

Cullen stayed outside Irving’s office as he had been commanded to. I gave him a polite nod to thank him. I saw the corner of his mouth twitch and then he looked away from me again. Then I entered Irving’s office.

“Good evening, First Enchanter.”

“Kylara, what a surprise. To what do I owe the honor of your visit tonight?”

“Dagna, of Orzammar, wishes to come here and study magic.”

“Orzammar? Indeed. Well, you have piqued my curiosity. It is common knowledge that dwarves lack the aptitude for spellcraft. She will never be able to weave the simplest of magic, no matter how hard she tries.”

I don’t think she minds in the slightest, First Enchanter. She still wishes to learn though. Even as we explained the same to her while we were there, her interest never waned.”

“Fascinating. I suppose the Circle should be flattered.”

“She is willing to give up her caste and family for this.”

“I see. If she is willing to sacrifice so much for this, then we should feel honored. Her path will not be an easy one, this is true, but with hard work and discipline, she should learn much. She can live and study with the Tranquil and the apprentices when it is appropriate. I just hope she will not be too disappointed when she arrives, as we are still recovering from Uldred’s attack on us.”

“I think she would actually be really interested in what happened. She is also of the smith caste. She can most likely help rebuild with everyone.”

“Indeed. This will be interesting.” He grinned. She can tell us much of our dwarven neighbors and their customs. Yes… The more I think about it, the more I like the idea. I will send a message to Orzammar myself telling Dagna that she is welcome here at the Circle. Perhaps things really are looking up for us then.” He smiled. “What are your plans once you leave here? If you don’t mind my asking, that is.”

“Not at all. We will head along the North Road to Denerim. There are some things we need to do there and then we will make our way south to hopefully find the Dalish.”

“Do you need a place to stay for the night?” he asked me.

“Well, we were just thinking of pitching our tents outside…”

“Nonsense! We haven’t fully replenished our numbers yet. There are spare bedrooms in the senior mage quarters. You will all stay here tonight as honored guests. I’ll walk down with you, greet everyone, and we’ll get you all settled for the night.”

 

As we walked out of the office, Irving saw Cullen still standing there, a scowl on his face.

“Cullen? I appreciate you waiting, but Kylara and I will be fine from here. I’ll explain to Greagoir.”

“Very well, First Enchanter.” He turned abruptly and stormed off.

After he was out of earshot, Irving whispered to me, “He is still having a lot of difficulty in dealing with what happened here.”

“I know. We spoke briefly before arriving at your office.”

“Were you able to make him see reason?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I did try though.” I sighed yet again. “He snapped at a bunch of apprentices on our way up to you. Perhaps the Knight-Commander should give him some time away from The Circle.”

“I don’t know if that will help him to move on from what happened… but we will both keep an eye on young Cullen and see what happens.”

 

Irving and I walked into the main hall together. He briefly and quietly had a few words for Greagoir, then he turned to the rest of us.

“You are all welcome to stay here for the night. There are eight of you…” A loud bark from Winston briefly startled the First Enchanter, and he smiled. “Okay, **nine**. Do you all mind pairing up for the night? We should have just enough rooms in the senior quarters for all of you. Kylara, I do think it would be best if your Mabari sleeps in the kitchens.”

I knelt down to Winston. “Do you mind, boy?”

He gave me a gentle bump with his head and made a soft huffing noise to show he understood.

“I’ll show the hound to the kitchens,” Greagoir said. “I’m sure the Tranquil will feed and take good care of him.”

“His name is Winston, sir.”

“Very well, Winston. Follow me.” Greagoir then left the main hall and went down a short flight of stairs, which I knew led to the kitchens.

“The rest of you, please follow me,” Irving intoned politely.

After winding our way through the library, we walked up the stairs to the second floor. Surprisingly, Irving showed Alistair and I into the guest suite that Duncan had stayed in while he had been here. My eyes misted up and I quickly turned to wipe them before Alistair noticed and questioned me about it.

After Irving had left with the others to take them to their rooms, I shut the door. Alistair looked around in appreciation. There was a rich leather settee, bookshelves lined with all sorts of books, a porcelain tub, and a large soft king-sized bed in the center of the room. A fire was crackling in the fireplace, keeping the room at a comfortable temperature despite the chill outside.

“This is a senior mage room? It’s very nice!”

“Well, actually, this is the guest suite. It is where important visitors to the Tower would stay. I guess Irving thought we’d be more comfortable here.”

“How did he know we are a couple? I mean, what if we hadn’t been… you know… together in that way already? Wouldn’t that have been a bit awkward? There’s only one bed here.”

“I guess it’s possible that Wynne may have told him, or maybe he just figured it out. He’s smart. It is why he is the First Enchanter.” Then I quirked my eyebrow at him. “Why the sudden questions about us being together?”

“I… just. I mean, he’s your old mentor, your teacher! And we’re in your old home! Surrounded by Templars…”

I laughed lightly. “You’re worried about us being together here? Why? You think mages are chaste like Templars? Because you’d be very wrong on that.”

“Sorry. You’re right. I guess I am being a little silly. Still,” he mused, “you’re not worried about all the Templars frowning on our scandalous behavior?”

“What? You think that lightning will strike us both down because we have sex?”

“Yep!” He joked. “Lightning first and then the end of civilization as we know it!”

I grabbed a pillow off the bed and threw it at his head.

“Oho! It’s to be war then?” He grinned and threw the pillow back at me. Then he grabbed the other one off the bed. “Prepare thy defenses, fair maiden! Ha!” He swatted the pillow at me. I dodged it.

“You’re going to have to do better than that, I’m afraid!” I made like I was going to hit him on the head, then quickly swung low, getting him in the stomach. “Aha! Point for me!” I crowed.

We continued on like this for some time until both pillows had feathers flying out of them. Finally, Alistair collapsed on the bed, laughing. “I yield, my lady! I yield!”

I fell onto the bed next to him, panting and laughing as well.

Alistair turned to face me. I could see his eyes firing gold with passion. He then quickly rolled on top of me, but used his arms to support his weight.

“Maker’s Breath, I want you so much!” he murmured and rubbed himself against me. I could feel his arousal through his breeches and I moaned.

“Kiss me, Alistair.”

He lowered his lips to mine and kissed me softly. “I love you, Kylara.” Then with one hand, he began unfastening the buttons on my robe, while continuing to kiss me.

 

Cullen walked slowly down the darkened corridor. _Really should apologize to her,_ he thought. _She is right. She saved everyone in the Tower that day, not just me. She is one of the few mages I_ _ **know**_ _will do good in the world._ He sighed. _And if I am truly honest with myself, I still care for her… a great deal. She is special and…_ He paused outside of the guest suite door intending to knock when he heard the noises coming from within. Soft moans, sighs, and then…

“Oh, Alistair!”

Cullen swallowed the lump in his throat. He rested his head against the stone wall of the hall and closed his eyes. _Too little, too late._

“Kylara…” he murmured softly. Then he turned and walked off.

 

Sometime during the night, a nightmare came to me… but it wasn’t the typical darkspawn-induced one that I had come to expect. I seemed to be seeing things from someone else’s perspective rather than my own. I saw King Cailan and Duncan in the vision, then I saw the darkspawn bearing down on the army at Ostagar. I saw the death of friends and brothers-in-arms. I saw hands that were mine – and yet not mine – digging frantically in the mud to bury something. The vision suddenly shifted and I was running through a forested area. Someone was after me. Then there was a stabbing pain in my gut.

I awoke with a stifled scream, clutching my abdomen.

Alistair immediately woke and sat up next to me. “Love? What is it? Darkspawn nightmare?”

“No… not exactly.” I then proceeded to explain to him what I had seen. He was quiet as he listened to me.

When I finished, he then slowly asked, “What do you think it means?”

I took a moment to gather my thoughts, then said, “I need to return to Ostagar.”

“If that is the case,” Alistair said slowly, “then you know I am coming with you. Call me sentimental, but I left behind some darkspawn that really deserve a sword through the middle.”

 

After breakfast, Alistair and I met up with Irving in his office. I told him of the dream vision that I had had.

Irving thought about it then said, “Hmm. It does seem that something must be calling you back there, but what, I don’t know.”

“First Enchanter, sir,” Alistair began, “I have been thinking that we do need to go there. You see, we left the King there when we had to flee. I was figuring that we would need to go back and… take care of his remains. We should also see if we can find… Duncan too. Send them both off with the proper respect they deserve. Perhaps now that the main horde has moved on, Kylara’s vision is telling us that now is the time for us to return.”

“You could be right, young man. But it will take you well over a week to get back down there, at least.”

“We do have horses that Arl Eamon and Bann Teagan loaned us…”

“Even with the horses, it would still take days,” I frowned. “What about… traveling spells?” I turned to my old mentor. “Do you know any that can be used for that kind of distance?”

“I… do. But traveling that kind of distance with a spell. It is very risky. You need to have a very, very clear picture in your mind of exactly where you want to go. You would also need at least four people who know the location.”

“Alistair, please go get Wynne… and Morrigan.”

 

After Alistair had left, Irving then took the time to explain the spell and exactly how it could work. “The spell is more theory than practice,” he said sternly. “I know of no one who has actually used it successfully. Especially for the distance you are intending.” He also continued to warn me of the dangers of the spell and suggested that we still walk to Ostagar; that if we used the spell at all, it should only be used as a last resort.

Once Alistair returned with Wynne and Morrigan, I quickly explained the situation. Wynne nodded.

“The events of Ostagar still haunt my memories too, Kylara. If that is where you are headed, then I am definitely coming with you.”

“Morrigan, you were the only other one with us as we passed by Ostagar. You should still be somewhat familiar with the area, right?” I asked her. She nodded. “Will you come with us to complete the four we need for the spell?”

“Very well, Kylara. I will come.”

 

Once everyone else had been gathered in the great hall, I explained that our trip to Denerim was going to be delayed for a while more. Sten was cross until I explained that Alistair, Wynne, Morrigan, and I were heading back to Ostagar to try and find the King’s remains and there would likely be darkspawn to fight.

“I wish I knew the area of which you speak. I would go with you if I could,” Sten grumbled.

“Even if we end up using magic to get there?” I asked.

“Kadan, I trust you… and your magic now. I have seen the good you do with it.” I must have had a shocked look on my face, but then he continued, “That does not mean I trust all magic. It is still very dangerous and I have seen the damage it did here. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

To my surprise, Irving agreed. “It is why we try our best to train all young mages responsibility… but you are correct. Even with our caution, there are those that will still be tempted by power, and those that will do evil.”

Sten nodded stoically.

Irving continued. “You are all welcome to stay here while they are gone.”

“Thank you, First Enchanter,” Leliana bowed to him. “You are very kind and generous.”

“I too appreciate the hospitality,” Zevran grinned. “Your library looks most remarkable. I was quite surprised to see a section of books from my home country.”

My eyebrows raised. “I didn’t take you as a reader, Zev.”

“Ah, my dear Kylara, my life is not all assassinations, wine, and fornication! I do have other hobbies I like pursue when I have time.” He gave me a grin.

Oghren came up to me and whispered, “I jus’ found out these Tranquil make their own beer here! Between that and Felsi on the other shore, I think I’ll be jus’ fine!”

“I thought you were going to make her wait for a while?”

He grinned, “Oh, I’ll give it another day or two. Gotta show these Tranquil some of my own brew recipes first!”

I rolled my eyes.

Winston came up to me and whined.

“I wish we could take you with us, boy, but if we have to use that spell… I don’t know how that could work. Best you just stay here. You can play with the kids again.”

He whined again, but then barked, showing me he was okay with this. I scratched his ears. Alistair then knelt down and gave him a good belly rub.

 

Carroll rowed us across to the mainland. He looked like he wanted to make some type of smart-ass comment to us, but with just one look from me, he quickly became quiet and did his duty in getting us back to the mainland.

After we got off the boat, I stopped by the cart and spoke to Shayle about what was going on. She nodded and said she’d continue to stay here and guard the cart and horses. We grabbed our bedrolls from the cart and clipped them to our packs, also making sure we had ample healing and lyrium potions, as well as travel rations. Then we set off down the road.

 

Two days later, we were heading through a forested area away from the main road when I heard noises ahead. I held up my hand.

“What is it, Kylara?” Alistair asked quietly.

“I think there is trouble ahead. Let’s try to get closer and see what is going on.”

Alistair and Wynne both nodded. Morrigan shrugged her shoulders.

Finally, we got to a space in the trees where I could see armed soldiers ahead. They were surrounding a man in tattered clothing. I gasped slightly when I recognized him as someone who had been at Ostagar with us. He had been one of King Cailan’s honor guard. _What is he doing way out here?_ I wondered.

“Those guards…” Alistair muttered quietly, “they work for Bann Loren. Another Loghain supporter.”

“Should we get down there?” Wynne asked, “That poor man might need our help.”

But as she said it, it was too late. One of the guards took his dagger and stabbed the elderly man in the gut, twisting the dagger to make the injury even worse. As the elderly man screamed and collapsed to the ground, I too, clutched my own stomach and fell to my knees. The soldiers walked off, laughing.

“Kylara!” Wynne whispered and knelt down to examine me. She had me move my hands. “No wound? I… don’t understand.”

I moaned, still feeling the pain. “Help him,” I grated out. “I’ll explain afterwards.”

Wynne nodded. She held out her hand and it glowed softly for a moment. “I’ve stopped his bleeding, but I don’t think he’s going to live through this,” she said sadly.

Once Wynne had healed him, the phantom pain I had felt eased, and I was able to stand again. I turned to her and briefly explained, “It was him that I was seeing the vision from. The nightmare I had had last night. It ended with a sharp pain in my abdomen. That is what woke me. I must have seen his memories… and part of his future.” I took a calming breath. “Come, let’s get to him to see if there is anything he can tell us, or anything we can do to help him.

Once I figured the guards were far enough away, we walked down the hill and over to the man. His eyes were closed, but as we approached, he opened them slightly.

“I know you,” Alistair breathed in surprise. “You’re Elric Maraigne! You were Cailan’s advisor and friend!”

“A-Alistair? Y-you survived Ostagar too?” Elric gasped. “I was told all the Grey Wardens were dead.”

“No, I survived, as did my companion here. No thanks to Loghain, though.”

Elric then saw Wynne. “Wynne? You’re here too?”

“Rest easy, Elric. Try not to talk too much. You are gravely wounded.”

“I-I didn’t expect the Loren’s men to notice my escape so quickly,” he then groaned and pressed his hand against the wound. Even though Wynne had stopped the bleeding, it was clear that it was still a fatal injury. “I tried to hide here in the woods, but apparently it wasn’t far enough away… Now there is no more time. I know I am dying.”

“What do you mean there is no more time?” I asked.

“If you are a Warden too, then you know how things went. For me, it was either end up as darkspawn food, or… run. So I ran.”

I remembered seeing this also in my vision. “Why is it so bad that you ran?”

“I-I was supposed to guard my King. He was my friend… and… I left him there!”

“And then Bann Loren’s men found you,” Alistair said.

“He threw me in prison! Said they were going to hang me for desertion! Maker’s Soul! All the time I was in that prison, my mind kept going back to all that we lost that one dark night… at Ostagar.” Elric started coughing and some blood trickled from his mouth.

“It’s not your fault that they died. I blame Loghain for that,” I said angrily.

“It wasn’t just Loghain’s abandonment. I think even Cailan – for all his bravado – knew there would likely be no victory that night. The darkspawn were too many.” Elric sighed. “The King… he trusted me with the key to the royal arms chest. H-he told me that if anything were to happen to him, it was vital that I deliver it to… you.”

“To me?” I asked, perplexed.

“To… the Wardens.” He coughed again and wheezed a bit. “I thought everything was lost when I heard you were all dead.”

“Why didn’t he give the key to Duncan?” Alistair wondered aloud.

“Duncan was too busy with the new recruits and getting everything prepared for that night. Whatever his reasons were, Cailan trusted it… to me.” His breath was now starting to rattle in his chest and I could see he was having trouble breathing. I glanced at Wynne and she shook her head sadly.

“What is so important about this chest?” I asked hurriedly.

It was Alistair that quietly answered that for me. “The royal arms chest? It’s where Cailan kept his… **our** father’s sword. He said he was going to use it to slay the archdemon.”

“There was… also a hidden compartment in it. Cailan kept the documents and letters from Empress Celene and the Orleasians in it.”

“Do you still have the key for this chest?”

Elric tried to chuckle, but it came out instead as a wet cough, and more blood leaked from his mouth. “The Maker… has a sense of humor, I suppose. Had I kept it, it would’ve been in Loren’s greedy hands now.”

Wynne gasped. “But you said Cailan entrusted it to you!”

“I-I was afraid that I’d lose it on the battlefield… so I stashed it in the camp.”

“You… buried it somewhere. Am I right?”

Elric looked at me with surprise. “Y-yes. I did. P-please, you must go and find it! It should still be there!”

“And if the darkspawn have found it? What then?” Morrigan smirked. Alistair glared at her.

Elric wheezed again. It was clear his end was close. “Would they even know how to work the lock if they did?”

“The darkspawn are more cunning than we give them credit for,” Wynne frowned. “Let us hope that the contents of that chest are indeed still intact.”

“Key is… buried behind the loose stones… at the base of the statue near Cailan’s tent. It is… vital that the King’s documents do not fall… into the wrong hands. As for Maric’s sword… it is too valuable to be pawed at by those… monsters.” Elric took a few gasping breaths, then quickly said, “If you also happen to find… Cailan’s body… please see it off. He shouldn’t be left… to rot amidst… the darkspawn filth.” With one final breath, Elric collapsed. He was gone.

All of us, except Morrigan bowed our heads respectfully and said a short prayer for Elric. Then I concentrated and spoke the spell in my mind. I called on the power of earth to create a grave for him. Then I summoned a wreath of flowers to place since there was no other marker for his place of final rest.

Alistair placed his arm around me. “Thank you.”

“So what now?” Morrigan asked. “Do we continue walking? If so, know that ‘twill be at least a week before we get there.”

“No. We are going to have to try the spell,” I replied.

“Are you sure, Kylara?” Wynne said with concern. “Irving did warn you that these long-distance travel spells are unpredictable, at best.”

“I understand, Wynne. However, all of us have been there. If we all concentrate on the destination, we should be fine. We need to get there and find Elric’s key and the royal chest.” I paused for a moment. “He was also right. We need to find the King’s body… and Duncan’s too, if we can. I can’t stand the thought of them still being amongst the darkspawn. Maker only knows what they could be doing to them.”

“’Tis winter down in the Wilds now,” Morrigan said.

“So?” Alistair shrugged.

Morrigan shook her head. “I truly wonder if you really are that stupid, or if you fake it.” Alistair scowled as Morrigan continued, “That means that your precious King and Duncan, if they are still there, will at least not be putrefied rotting corpses. The cold will have protected them.”

“She has a point,” I said gently to Alistair and gave him a peck on the cheek. “It is good that the weather will be in our favor.”

He sighed. “Are we ready to try this travel spell then?”

I nodded and said, “We will all need to link hands.” I held Alistair’s and Morrigan’s, to keep them separate, as I had no doubt that Morrigan would probably have refused to hold his hand. To complete the circle, Wynne took Morrigan and Alistair’s hands. “Now, everyone, we must clearly picture our destination. Morrigan, do you remember me pointing out the Tower of Ishal to you?”

“I… think so. Yes.”

“Visualize it to the east from where we are standing.” I took a deep breath and then spoke the spell.

 

Tha an turas fada

<The journey is long>

Cùm sinn sàbhailte bho chron

<Keep us safe from harm>

Tha fios againn càite am feum sinn a dhol

<We know where we need to go>

Cuir thugainn gu Ostagar!

<Please send us to Ostagar!>

 

It became very clear why this was not a spell used often, if at all, by mages. The sensations pulling and spinning around my body almost made me sick. I gripped Alistair’s hand tighter and was relieved to feel him squeeze mine back. All we could do was wait for everything to stop.

I landed with a thud and the air abruptly left my lungs in a ‘whoosh’.

“Ohh... I do not like that method of travel,” I heard Alistair moan from somewhere.

I took in a painful breath and then gasped out, “Wynne, Morrigan? Are you all right?”

“’Tis the one time I will agree with Alistair. That travel spell leaves much to be desired.”

“Wynne? Where are you?”

“Uh... I am here, Kylara,” I finally heard her say. I breathed a sigh of relief. We had all made it. That relief was short lived however... I could feel darkspawn approaching. Fortunately, it was only one hurlock and one genlock. We were able to take them out quickly.

Once they were dead, we all sat down for a brief moment to catch our breaths, still recovering from the travel spell. We had landed where the army had once camped. To our left was the only way open to go, as the darkspawn had blocked all other areas with their crude barricades and spears.

Alistair sighed. “Something about returning here makes me feel old Wynne.”

“And what are you saying there, Alistair?”

Alistair’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “What? Nothing! I just thought…”

I saw Wynne try to hide a smile. “You just thought I might be an expert at feeling old… and wanted some sage advice? Hmm?”

“I-I just mean that I was a different person then! I… believed him, you know? That it’d be a glorious battle. That’d we’d… win.”

Now Wynne sighed too. “I did as well. I suppose we were all a bit younger the last time we were here.”

“And by ‘younger’, you must mean naïve.” Morrigan quipped.

Wynne had a look of shock on her face. Alistair whirled around to face her. “What exactly are you implying?!”

“If the both of you truly thought your little army was going to win the battle here, then you all were fools. Even this… Elric said that your King was having doubts… and yet he still ordered the attack! ‘Twas a suicide mission!”

“What you are saying might be true, but must you be so harsh about it?” Wynne said, tears in her eyes.

“Why didn’t your King wait for the reinforcements? From Orlais, yes?”

Alistair was grinding his teeth. “Loghain kept saying we didn’t need them. He kept insisting that his troops flanking the darkspawn would be enough.”

“And then he pulled his troops, leaving your King, Duncan, and hundreds of others to die at the hands of the darkspawn!”

“ENOUGH!” I shouted. I turned to Morrigan, hand on my hips. “We all,” I said, indicating Alistair, Wynne, and myself, “thought we could trust Loghain! The King trusted him, Duncan trusted him, so did a lot of people here! We had no idea he was going to betray us all! For that, I **will** see to it that he pays for that treachery!”

“As will I,” Alistair said angrily.

“And as far as the King charging ahead? What else was he supposed to do?! He already had the army here, mobilized and ready to go. Pulling back at that point would have been just as foolish. Either way, the darkspawn were still going to attack us!” I stood there fuming for a moment, then took a deep breath. “The past is the past and we can not change what happened. Mistakes were made, but now we move on. We came down here to do an important job and I intend to see it through. Now will you help us, Morrigan, or not?”

She sighed in resignation. “Yes, I will… help.”

 

We headed left and I recognized the area as where Duncan had the meeting with King Cailan, Loghain, and other important people before the battle. The long war table was tipped on its side and the maps were all scattered all over. Some torn, some burnt, and some buried in the snow. I found and picked up part of the map that illustrated the Tower of Ishal and my mind went reeling back to that night.

 

“ _It is not a foolish notion!” Cailan frowned. “Our arguments with the Orleasians are a thing of the past… and you will remember who is King.”_

 

_“Then our current forces will have to suffice.” Cailan turned to Duncan. “Duncan, are your people ready for battle?”_

 

_The King pointed to a specific point on the map. “This is the Tower of Ishal in the ruins, yes? Hmm. Well, who shall light this beacon?”_

 

_King Cailan nodded in agreement. “Then we should send out very best. Send Alistair and the new Grey Warden to make sure it is done.”_

_  
_ Suddenly, something dawned on me. Cailan had known Alistair was his brother! Could it be that the King had suspected all along, as Elric had suggested, that the Battle of Ostagar would be lost? Perhaps Cailan had sensed the treachery in Loghain. _Had he sent Alistair to the Tower deliberately to ensure that Ferelden would still have an heir?!_

 

I didn’t get a chance to mull any further on these thoughts. My Warden senses alerted me and I dropped the map quickly. A darkspawn arrow whizzed past me. Three genlocks, two hurlocks, and an elite hurlock strider were all rushing in to attack. I moved to intercept the genlocks – who were the ones shooting arrows at us, while Morrigan shifted into bear form to tackle the hurlocks. Alistair went after the hurlock strider. In no time, our teamwork took out the minor troops.

After Alistair had killed the hurlock strider, we found a piece of Cailan’s battle armor on it’s body. The damnable beast had been wearing the King’s own greaves! I carefully removed them from the corpse and rubbed them against the snow to clean them off.

I heard Alistair make a sound of disgust. I glanced back up at him. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s just… It’s wrong to find this on… **that**!” he said pointing at the darkspawn corpse. “ **His** armor! Thick with their taint!”

“But that is why we are here. To get them back where they belong.”

Wynne came up and put her arm gently on Alistair’s arm. “I know. I feel it too. But he is not the first King to fall in battle… or even the first to fall to the darkspawn.”

Alistair kicked at a rock on the ground and muttered, “Yes, but this wound cuts deeper.”

“And will likely bleed longer. But we must keep moving. No doubt there are other darkspawn here that we will need to deal with before we can find Elric’s key to the royal arms chest, the rest of the King’s armor, and… his body.”

While they had been talking, my eyes drifted up the ramp to where it had all started for me. My Joining. My becoming a Grey Warden. I made my way slowly up the ramp and to the area where the ceremony had been held. My eyes drifted down and caught something glinting in a snowbank. I knelt down and brushed the snow aside and pulled the item out of the ice. My hands trembled when I realized what I held.

“Alistair, come quick!” I shouted.

He ran up the ramp, followed by Wynne, and more slowly, Morrigan. “You startled me, love. I hadn’t realized you’d wandered off.” Then he noticed what I had. “Oh, Maker! Is that what I think it is?”

I nodded. “The Joining Chalice.” I handed it over to him.

He held it gently, his hands shaking almost as much as mine had, tears misting his eyes. He knelt down without a word, took off his pack and placed the chalice carefully into it. The he stood up and embraced me. “I don’t know by what miracle that you found this, my love… but thank you.” He then looked at his pack, and the King’s greaves. “There is no way I’ll be able to fight and carry everything. I wonder if it’d be safe to… leave it here?”

“There is only one way up here, so as long as we make sure no darkspawn get past us on our way down, then they should be all right.” I glanced around. “Of course, that means that with every piece of armor we find, we will have to keep coming back up here to drop it off.”

Alistair’s eyes glinted with fierce determination. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep these items out of **their** possession!”

“And I will help you. You know this.” He gave a brief nod. “We will not let Cailan’s death at the hands of these monsters go unpunished.”

“You have my full support too, Alistair,” Wynne said.

“Morrigan?”

She nodded.

“Good,” I said. “Let’s get going. We have a lot of ground to cover here. I don’t want to still be here when night comes.”

“Agreed,” Alistair replied.

 

After hiding all of our packs and the one piece of armor we’d found (so far) in the corner of the old Temple, we proceeded back down to the main area of Ostagar. This is where the quartermaster, the mage tents, and further off, the Mabari kennels had been.

Several hurlocks rushed in to attack. I froze a few of them and Alistair quickly smashed them with sword and shield attacks. He was attacking with a ferocity that was even more terrifying than our last days in the Deep Roads. I knew why though. This this fight was far more personal for him than any of our previous darkspawn battles. Morrigan was in her bear shape again and sticking to the back. She had been dealing with the darkspawn that were trying to get to Wynne. I didn’t mind this tactic as I wanted to make sure Wynne stayed safe.

Off by the kennel area a genlock forgemaster was hitting us with ranged attacks. I saw Alistair rush ahead, taking hit after hit, just to get to it. I finished killing the last hurlock and quickly cast a shield on Alistair to protect him from further harm. With a mighty swing of his sword, Alistair practically cut the forgemaster in half. Even after it fell to the ground, already dead, he still cut off it’s ugly head. When we finally caught up to him he was staring at it and the black blood oozing all over the snow. Wynne healed him from all the injuries he’d sustained.

Seeing all this anger and hatred on his face had me really worried. He’d lightly joked about it back at the Tower, but being back here was clearly affecting him a lot more than Wynne or myself. I gently pulled him away from the corpse. “Alistair, are you… alright?”

“I’m fine,” he gritted out. “Never better.”

I clearly knew he wasn’t ‘fine’, but I couldn’t discuss it with him any further at the moment. I sensed more darkspawn trying to flank us from the back. _More hurlocks,_ I groaned, _including an alpha._ Alphas were part of their elite troops. Tough as nails and a pain in the ass to kill. I focused a fire spell on the advancing alpha, but despite that, it continued to charge me. I had to dodge out of its oncoming path, or get trampled in the process. Fortunately, Morrigan’s bear form was able to quickly kill it.

We had another brief respite, so I asked, “Should we look for the key now? We are in the right area.”

“I think I’d rather make sure this entire area is clear of any remaining darkspawn before doing that,” Alistair muttered, anger still in his voice.

“All right,” I said softly. “If that is what you want…”

So we proceeded past the former Mabari kennels. Sadly, there were a few dead dogs that had not been able to escape the attack. One empty kennel held some discarded armor for aMabari to wear in battle. Another held an unopened jar of the khaddis warpaint that was sometimes applied to the dogs before battle. I wasn’t sure how to use the warpaint, but I thought I might still take it with us. Perhaps I could still use it on Winston.

Up ahead there was a sudden howling. Wolves? I knew there were plenty of them in the Korcari Wilds, but these howls sounded different. Then I saw as they rounded the corner, rushing in for the attack.

“Blight wolves!” Morrigan shouted as she transformed back into a bear.

I used a cone of cold to freeze them and then a lightning spell to take down quite a few of them, but more came rushing in at the sounds of the battle, followed by some genlocks, and a hurlock vanguard.

Alistair bellowed in anger and after killing the genlock I’d been dealing with, I saw why. The hurlock had Cailan’s shield. Alistair was attacking it, trying to get a hit in without damaging the shield.

“Get your… filthy hands… off of that!” he was practically screaming.

The hurlock laughed, which only made Alistair angrier.

“Hey! Ugly!” I shouted and waved my arms at the hurlock. I had no idea if my trick would work, but lo and behold, the hurlock turned to me with a sneer on its hideous face. That gave Alistair just the opening he needed. With one heavy sword swing, the hurlock was quickly decapitated. Alistair dropped his sword and grabbed at the shield, pulling it violently away from the corpse. Checking that there was no damage and no tainted blood on it, he then quickly ran all the way back to where we had stashed everything else.

When he returned, there was a hint of a smile on his face and he quickly embraced me. “Thanks for that,” he murmured. Just as I thought he might be releasing some of his anger, he let me go and his eyes glinted again. “Let’s go get that key now.” He ran over to where the statue was, just past the old mage encampment.

I sighed and followed him, Wynne and Morrigan trailing after me. When we got to him, he had discarded his gloves, and was frantically digging through icy rocks and snow. Finally he found the key. “Thank the Maker it was still here!” He handed it to me and I then gasped to see his fingers had bloody cuts all over then from him digging through the ice.

“Wynne, take the key please,” I said and handed it to her. “I need a moment to talk with Alistair.” She nodded and left the two of us alone. Morrigan left with her.

I murmured a quick healing spell and then a very low grade fire spell to help warm his hands. “Alistair…” I paused for a moment as I could see him glaring at me. I had to choose my words carefully. “Why are you being so reckless? This… isn’t like you!”

His eyes flared golden. “They **need** to pay for what they’ve done here! Why aren’t **you** more angry about it?”

“You think I’m not angry? I am! But we can’t do what we need to do here if we act carelessly!” I leaned forward and threw my arms around him. My face buried against his neck, I softly said, “This is no different than what I did when we fought the darkspawn on our way back to Redcliffe. I acted rashly and almost died because of it!” I felt his arms come up to hold me. “I don’t want to lose you! So please, Alistair, be more careful. We will get this done… together!” I leaned back slightly so I could look into his eyes.

“You are right. I have been acting rather impulsive, haven’t I?” He wiped the tears away from my face. “We are a team and we should work together. I will do my best to keep a more level head… but I warn you too,” he looked at me seriously, “it may not take much to set me off again.”

“Anger? Hatred at the situation? Those I can deal with, Alistair. It’s you rushing off on your own to fight that has me worried.”

He nodded as he picked up his gloves and put them back on. “I will try to not do that again.” He said that so quietly I wasn’t sure if I really believed what he said. Part of me was going to be very glad when we were done here.

We both got up and then together with Wynne and Morrigan, headed over to where the King’s tent used to be. Half in and half out of a snowbank, the royal arms chest looked a bit battered, but thankfully it was still intact. Wynne slid the key into the lock and carefully opened the chest.

Inside there was one item, King Maric’s sword. Wynne handed it over to Alistair quietly. Then she felt along the bottom of the chest. Finding the secret latch, she pressed it, and a small compartment opened in the bottom of the chest. There were indeed some documents in there. Wynne handed those to me.

I flipped through the documents, scanning them quickly. “So it is true! King Cailan did convince the Grey Warden forces of Orlais to ally with us against the darkspawn! Apparently, Empress Celene was merely awaiting his response!”

“A response that never came,” Alistair intoned darkly, “and now never will… thanks to Loghain’s treachery!”

“Never is a long time, Alistair,” Wynne replied with a gentle tone. “Give it time and let cooler heads prevail. There will be peace between our nations one day. Why, if you become King, you could even help broker in that peace.”

“Maker’s Breath, I wish I’d never let that information accidentally slip out,” Alistair groaned. “I don’t **want** to be King!”

Wynne was shocked at this. “But think of all the good you could do!”

“And all I can lose…” he muttered so quietly only I could hear. I gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

“You’d be able to continue on your brother’s noble quest of uniting our nation with Orlais!”

Alistair heaved a great sigh. “Cailan was raised to be King! He was tutored, mentored, advised! He had my father. He had Anora… and as much as I hate to admit this, he even had Loghain! He had twenty years knowing he would be King!” Alistair ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up even more than it normally did. “I have what… six months at maximum to come to terms with being King! Me? It’s a fucking joke!” I saw Wynne blanch at his profanity. “I was the bastard kid nobody wanted! My own father didn’t want me, Eamon raised me, but even he abandoned me to the Chantry! Why? Because Isolde thought I was **her** husband’s bastard! Duncan was the only one who actually cared about me for the first time in my whole bloody life… and **he’s** gone! I have Kylara now, but if they do make me King, I lose her too! So you tell me now, Wynne, what real good comes of me being King?!” He thrust his father’s sword into my hands and stalked off.

Fortunately, he headed in the direction of where we’d stashed our packs.

“I’ll be back, Wynne,” I said softly. I slowly walked to where Alistair had run off to, but as I left I head both Wynne and Morrigan speaking.

Wynne still seemed to be in shock. “I-I don’t understand why he doesn’t think he is worthy. To me, he has all the strength he needs to be a good King!”

“Personally, I think you are wrong,” Morrigan scoffed. “He’d make a horrible King. He’s still far too much a child in my opinion! ‘Tis no backbone in him at all!”

I was now far enough away that I didn’t hear if Wynne had a response to Morrigan’s snide comment. _Good thing Alistair didn’t hear that too,_ I thought. _While I know he really doesn’t want the job, just hearing her say that would have started another fight between them for sure…_

I found Alistair hunched down by the wall of the old Temple where our stuff was hidden. When I approached, he was clearly trying to hide that he was crying.

“Some King **I’d** make,” he sniffed and swiped furiously as the tears that kept streaming down his cheeks. “Some man I am… Morrigan would be having a great laugh if she saw me like this!”

I stuffed the Orleasian documents and other papers into my pack, then tossed Maric’s sword, the dog armor, and the warpaint jar on the pile of stuff. I knelt down and embraced Alistair again.

“What makes you think you can’t cry?” I asked softly. “What has happened, this is a lot for you to have to deal with. There is real trauma for you here. You not only lost Duncan, but you lost… your brother too. Even if you and he didn’t know each other well, he was still a part of you… and it will no doubt hit hard again when we find his… body.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right about that.” He sniffed again. “Can’t imagine the darkspawn gave him proper respect.”

I gently kissed him. “There has been a lot placed on your shoulders, my love. But I am here for you, you know this. You really shouldn’t try to keep your emotions bottled up. It will just lash out like it did today, with you rushing ahead to fight… and snapping at Wynne like that.”

“When we get back, I will apologize to her. She… meant well.”

“In a way, she was giving you a big compliment. Even if you don’t want to be King, the fact is that she thinks you could do it.”

“D-do you think I would be a good King?”

I stared deeply into his expressive brown eyes. “Yes. I do.” I was quiet for a moment, then I looked at the ground and murmured, “I think you’d make a wonderful King.” Then I looked back up at him. “You also wouldn’t be going at it alone. You will have advisors. Eamon himself will probably help for a bit too. They won’t just hand you the crown and scepter, plop you on the throne, and say ‘Good luck, there, kid’!”

Alistair gave a weak smile at my statement, then sighed. “But I wouldn’t have **you**.”

“If you think I’m going to let Eamon and a bunch of stuffed-shirt nobles run me out of Denerim if they put that crown on your head, then they have another thing coming!” I said with fire. “I told you, whether you take the crown or not, I am staying by your side. They aren’t going to get rid of Kylara Amell that easily.” I gave a smirk. “Besides, I could always throw a hex or two at those that give me any sass.”

Alistair started chuckling, “You know, I think I’d like to see that!” He then gave me a kiss. “You really are the most amazing woman I have ever known. I am so glad you are in my life. My fellow Warden, my partner, my friend, my… lover.”

I blushed, then said, “We really should get back to Wynne and Morrigan, lest they think the darkspawn have overwhelmed us. There is still a lot of danger here.”

“As if the darkspawn could take you down!” he laughed.

I shook my head. “They almost did. Down in the Deep Roads, when I was out of mana?” I saw him sober at that memory. “Love, we are the best defense against their evil, but we are not invulnerable to harm. Let us both not forget that. We are all that is left between saving Ferelden and the land getting overrun with the Blight. We must survive long enough to kill the archdemon.” I stood up. Alistair did the same.

“You are right.” He took my hand and gave it a squeeze. “Here I am, the senior Grey Warden, and you are still more wise than me.”

“Not wise, just practical.” I gave him a smile. “Let’s go.”

 

We made our way back to the royal arms chest where Wynne and Morrigan were still waiting. Wynne quickly stepped up to us.

“I was really worried about the two of you! Thank goodness you’re both back… and Alistair, I am sorry if I said something that offended you.”

“No, Wynne, it is I who should apologize to you. You were… trying to help me. I shouldn’t have been rude like that.”

“If we all are quite done with the ‘happy feels time’, might I suggest that we get moving? ‘Twas it not you, Kylara, that pointed out we should probably not be here after dark?”

 _Blunt as a spoon there, hmm, Morrigan?_ I sighed. “She has a point. It is already afternoon and being winter the sun will go down earlier, yes?”

Wynne nodded. “Yes. Let’s press onwards.”

 

We headed up a ramp that lead to an area that overlooked the valley below. More genlocks greeted us in the only way they knew how – by attacking. This time, at least, Alistair stay by my side until I froze two of them, and then he rushed up to kill them. The last one, a ranged attacker, I set on fire until it too, was dead.

An arrow whizzed by my head. There were two more genlock archers on our right. _Wish Leliana could have come too… She would have make short work of them!_ However, she wasn’t, so I cast the longest range spell I had, a lightning spell. That stopped the arrows at least. Morrigan rushed up in her bear form and quickly crushed and slashed the archers until they were dead.

After killing a few more genlocks and hurlocks the upper balcony was clear. We headed down the ramp. The only place to go now was across the bridge leading to the Tower of Ishal. I was not sure how I felt about returning to the place I had nearly died… and I was sure Alistair had as much trepidation about it as I. The look I could see on his face made it pretty clear.

We took a deep breath and started across. The cold winter’s day and the bright afternoon sun made it difficult to see far in the distance, but about midway across the bridge there seemed to be something that had not been there the night we fought the battle. Wynne and Alistair were talking softly and Morrigan was behind them, a slight scowl on her face.

I took the opportunity to quicken my pace very slightly so that I could get a closer look at whatever it was on the midpoint of the bridge… and then I finally saw it.

“Maker preserve me,” I breathed out and fell to my knees. Tears poured from my eyes.

“Kylara?” Alistair ran up to me. “What – ”

All I could do was point.

I heard Wynne gasp and cry out in shock.

I heard Alistair gag.

Morrigan made a small sound of surprise.

The darkspawn had strung up King Cailan’s body upon some crude marker to be displayed like some prized trophy animal. His body had been stripped down to his smalls, and he had been beaten, bruised, and mutilated. Spears had been stabbed through his stomach, chest, and arms. I wasn’t sure if it had been done to hold him to their ‘display’ or if they had thrown them at his body after he’d been strung up, and I didn’t want to know.

Through the haze of my tears I saw Alistair stagger a little closer to the remains of our King – his brother – and he too fell to his knees. He doubled over, his fists and head near the ground. I saw him start to shake; his body wracked with grief.

Wynne slowly tried walking towards him, but I stopped her. “Alistair… “ she murmured in sorrow.

Just then, Alistair sat up and threw his head back, bellowing his rage at the heavens. My heart twisted in my chest to hear my love in so much pain. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to help him as his shout had brought out more enemies.

The darkspawn in the front of the group seemed to be more intelligent-looking than the ones we normally fought. Its beady eyes glinted at us evilly and a cloud of purple smoke started rising around it. It waved its hands around in what seemed a deliberate pattern. Lightning sparked off of them and it was suddenly surrounded by skeletal minions. My head turned when I heard rattling behind me and I realized this genlock was a necromancer. It had summoned these skeletons to surround us. I turned back to the necromancer to see it running off .

“Morrigan, Wynne, do what you can to take care of the skeletons behind us.” I then ran up to Alistair, who seemed to be staring blankly ahead. “Alistair?” I shook him gently. “Speak to me.”

When he finally turned to face me, I was startled by the almost red glow to his eyes. His mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear anything at first. Then his voice gradually got louder. “… them. I am going to kill them… I am going to kill… every last one…” He looked skyward and shouted, “I AM GOING TO KILL EVERY LAST FUCKING DARKSPAWN THERE IS!!” He quickly stood up almost knocking me over in his haste. I saw him grip his sword tightly and then he started walking quickly away from us. He swung his sword and shield, shattering the skeletons blocking his path and then began running after the necromancer.

“Alistair! Wait! Stop!” I cried out. Then I did the one thing I could think of. I cast a paralyze spell on him. I ran to catch up to where he was, shouting, “You said you wouldn’t do this again!”

“Y-you dare use your magic on me?!” he bellowed in anger. “I will **not** be stopped! Not by them and not by you! HOLY SMITE!”

The ferociousness of his Templar attack knocked me back and I felt my mana draining away. He broke free of the paralysis and charged off, leaving me lying there helpless.

I was utterly stunned. _He attacked me!_ I sat there, tears streaming down my face, as both Wynne and Morrigan ran up to me.

“Oh! Oh, my, Kylara! Are you all right?”

I sobbed harder. Morrigan’s eyes sparked angrily. “That damned fool!” She handed me a lyrium potion.

I wiped my tears away quickly and drank the potion. I handed her back the empty flask and then said, “We need to go after him!”

“Why? After that little stunt of his, ‘twould serve him right if he got himself killed!”

“No! We can’t let that happen! H-he’s not acting rationally! We must go after him!” I pleaded.

“Grief has robbed him of his senses, Morrigan,” Wynne said.

“Not that he had much sense in him to begin with…” she muttered. She helped me up. “Will you be alright now?”

“Yes.”

Morrigan sighed and handed me my staff. “I can not believe you are this forgiving at times.”

“I said we need to go after him, I did **not** say I was going to forgive him. He left me there helpless! With no mana reserves! What if you hadn’t been there to help me?” The anger on my face actually surprised both Wynne and Morrigan. “When we catch up to him, he **will** be getting a earful from me!”

 

The three of us moved across the bridge and up the ramp to the area in front of the Tower of Ishal. There were several darkspawn corpses lying in the snow. Some were decapitated, others had limbs missing. Black blood stained the snow in gruesome splashes. We followed the trail past traps that had been sprung and even more gory splotches of darkspawn blood and body parts.

“Maker!” Wynne said in a quiet, yet shocked voice. “I can’t believe our Alistair caused this kind of… violent destruction.”

“He is a warrior, Wynne,” I replied in a serious tone. “Our time in the Deep Roads was no picnic, if you remember.” I saw her nod. “I know you prefer to see the gentle, fun side of him, but when he has to fight…” I sighed. “Though right now he is scaring even me. He is acting more like a Berserker, or even a Reaver, than Templar right now.”

We crossed over a rise of snow and then down a ramp… and finally found him. He was on his knees; his sword and shield, covered in black blood, lay in the snow by his side. Except for the rise and fall of his chest to show he was still breathing, he wasn’t moving at all. I was about to run down and start yelling at him for his stupid behavior, but Wynne stopped me.

“Now is not the time, dear. I know you are still angry, but we need to see if he is all right first. We must also finish out mission here. You will have your chance to… discuss what happened. For now, let us keep cool heads. You stay here, I will see to Alistair. Please keep an eye out for any darkspawn.”

I nodded and Wynne walked down the ramp to where Alistair was. She knelt down beside him. I could see her healing him and talking softly while she did so, though I couldn’t make out what she was saying to him. Minutes kept ticking by and the sun was gradually going lower in the sky. I kept scanning the area. There were still darkspawn present, but they were not coming anywhere near us. I commented on that to Morrigan.

“They probably saw him butchering the others. ‘Tis most likely the reason they are keeping their distance at this time. However, our safety will not be guaranteed much longer. Whatever else they may be, darkspawn are not stupid.”

I sighed and then looked back at Wynne. She was finally getting Alistair to his feet. He slowly picked up his sword and shield… and one other item I had not seen earlier. He had found Cailan’s gauntlets.

The two of them made their way up the ramp to where Morrigan and I were waiting. The shell-shocked look on his face kept me from expressing any anger again. Wynne was right. We had to help him and finish what we had to do here. He glanced around with glazed eyes, seeing all of the damage he had done and he shuddered.

“Alistair…” I murmured softly. “Are you… going to be able to… fight at all?”

“Don’t know,” he mumbled. “I-I’m sorry I ran off again.” He looked down at the ground. “I… don’t know what came over me.” He was trembling. “… Never have I felt… such… **rage**.”

I gently took Cailan’s gauntlets from him and turned to Morrigan. Quietly I asked if she’d be willing to take them back to our “stash”. She gave me a look that said she clearly was not happy about it. Nonetheless, she took them from me, transformed into a hawk, and then flew back in the direction where we had left everything. A moment later she returned.

Before I could even ask, she said, “Everything is still there.”

I just gave a brief nod, then turned back to Alistair. “Will you be able to finish this, or do you think you need to sit it out?”

“I… think I’ll be all right. Whatever Wynne did… seems to have helped.”

“You **will** stay with us now. That is understood?”

He nodded, apparently ashamed of his earlier actions.

“Good.” I could sense the darkspawn were moving in again. “Let’s head to the Tower.”

 

We made our way slowly to the Tower of Ishal. Darkspawn swarmed out of the ruins, but this time we stayed grouped together, Morrigan now relying on her frost spells rather than shape-shifting. Alistair seemed a bit shaky, but still managed to kill several of the stronger darkspawn that broke through our spells.

Near the ramp that would lead us to the Tower entrance we saw a hurlock general wearing Cailan’s breastplate. I prayed that Alistair wasn’t going to flip out again. Though I could see that he was angry at the sight, he stayed with us. Together, we quickly took the general down.

I reached down and carefully took it off of the corpse. Wynne summoned a wind spell to create a hole in a nearby snowbank and I carefully lay the armor in it. Then she covered the hole back with clean snow. I drew a rune on the hiding spot so we’d be able to find it quickly again. Alistair looked at me gratefully, but I could not smile back. He noticed and a troubled look filled his eyes.

We headed up the ramp and were almost ambushed by a pair of shrieks. They did have that annoying habit of being able to sneak up on us, even with our senses at full alert. As soon as they were dead, we entered the Tower of Ishal.

 

The genlock necromancer was inside, just past the entrance hall.

It seemed as if he had waited for us, which I thought was strange. He quickly summoned a massive fireball and threw it at us. We all dove for cover, Alistair protecting me, and Morrigan protecting Wynne. The explosion blasted the entrance doors off their hinges. Then he ran further inside.

We got up quickly, Alistair trying to help me up, but I brushed his hand aside. “I’m fine,” I muttered.

He looked like he was about to say something, perhaps apologize to me, but some hurlocks rushed in. I aimed my staff and sent my own fireball into the main room of the building. Morrigan had cast a grease spell under the darkspawn and my fireball ignited it. They roared in anger as they slowly burnt to a crisp.

Once we entered the main room of the Tower more hurlocks and genlocks rushed in to attack, followed by an ogre. We killed them as quickly as we could and made our way around the old barrier that was still there from my first visit to this place. _Funny how some things never change,_ I thought bitterly.

After even more darkspawn killing, we made our way past the giant hole in the floor. Alistair tried the door we had used our first time through here, but it was jammed.

“Apparently we can’t go up,” I said. Then I looked at the hole. “I guess we need to go… down?”

“Do you really think that necromancer went down there?” Wynne asked. “If so, how are **we** going to get down?”

“’Tis a really good question. Kylara and I could shape-shift… but that doesn’t help the two of you.”

“What about that wind spell you used to bring Winston down to the tunnel at Redcliffe?” Alistair asked softly.

I didn’t turn to face him, but replied, “I… I don’t know. I remember when you kicked that rock in, it took a long time to hit bottom. I’m not sure with the weight of a human, plus the potential distance, if I could sustain the spell long enough.”

“Standing here arguing does us no good,” Morrigan snipped. “I’ll shape-shift and fly down to the bottom. Then I can let you know how far it is.”

I nodded. “Seems like our only option at the moment.”

Morrigan transformed into a small bird and then flew down into the hole. A moment later, I heard her shout up to us. “’Tis not as deep as it seems! Perhaps twenty-five meters or so?” Another moment and she flew back out of the hole and then became herself again.

I did the math in my head, then shook it. “I don’t think I could hold my spell long enough. Then there is the other problem. Even if I could get you both down, “ I said, indicating Alistair and Wynne, “how would you get back up?”

“I’m afraid only Kylara and I will be able to go down there,” Morrigan said.

“Wynne.” I pulled her aside. “I know this will be hard on Alistair, but I think while Morrigan and I are down there taking care of things, you and he need to get King Cailan’s… remains… and move them back to a safe location for a pyre.”

“Are you certain about this?” Wynne asked worriedly. “There really is no other way?”

I shook my head. “Morrigan and I should be fine. Alistair is going to need your help.” I said softly. “Go on and help him. We’ll meet you back close to where we have our belongings.”

“Very well.”

 

As Wynne took Alistair aside and explained the situation, I could see he was simultaneously worried for me, upset at being left behind, and terrified of what he knew he’d have to do with his brother’s remains. He reluctantly agreed, so once that had been settled, Morrigan and I shape-shifted back into birds and flew down into the hole. At the bottom, I could see we were in the Deep Roads again. I summoned my floating light as there were no lava channels down here to provide illumination.

“So that’s how they got into the Tower… from the Deep Roads,” I said mostly to myself, even though I knew Morrigan could hear me. Then I muttered, “I was really hoping to never see them again.”

“Which way?” Morrigan asked.

“Well, thankfully, there seems to be only one way to go. Maker forbid we get lost down here.”

“For once, I’ll agree to that ‘Maker’ thing,” she replied with a smirk.

We followed the passage, which twisted and turned, but did not have any other tunnels leading off into other directions. There were darkspawn to kill, along with corrupted spiders. We kept moving forward until the passage lead back to the outside.

“That was blissfully short,” I said. Then I looked around. “Why, we’re on the battlefield! I saw this from the bridge above the night of the battle.”

There were only a few frozen corpses to be found, yet I knew hundreds had been slaughtered that night. The snow and ice covered up everything. It all looked too… pristine. Especially knowing what had happened down here.

Off in the distance, I saw the genlock necromancer. That dark purple cloud surrounded him again as he waved his hands around. To my shock and dismay, there was a massive ogre corpse lying nearby, and it was that corpse that the necromancer brought back to life.

Several summoned skeletons also joined the fray.

“Can you handle the skeletons?” I asked Morrigan quickly as the ogre rushed closer to us. She quickly nodded and transformed into a bear. I quickly cast the strongest ice spell I could and managed to freeze the oncoming ogre. I knew it wouldn’t hold for long. So I took the brief moment to think of a strategy. I needed to become something either powerful or strong, preferably both. There was that one animal I’d read about in a book once…

I concentrated and became a red lion! I could feel the strength in my new muscles and the sharpness of my teeth and claws. Before the ogre broke free, I quickly leapt up to a ledge nearby.

With a loud crack, the resurrected ogre broke free from its icy prison. It looked around, but when it no longer saw me, it let out a fearsome bellow. I quickly tensed up my new feline muscles and launched myself from the ledge, landing on the ogre’s back. I dug my claws in deep and climbed up its back.

The ogre roared again, this time in pain. It tried to twist itself around to grab, but its arms couldn’t reach me. I raked my claws deep into it; black, tainted blood splashing against my fur. I climbed higher and eventually got to it’s thick, ugly head. I reached around with my paw and raked my claws against the ogre’s face, blinding it.

Unfortunately, with me that high up on its body, it was able to reach behind its head and grab me. I roared as it began to squeeze. Quickly, I thought the incantation for change and transformed into a tiny insect. I crawled out of the ogre’s fist, then became a small bird and flew off into the distance. I landed on the snow and became myself for a moment to recover.

Morrigan, having finished taking the skeletons down then charged the blinded ogre in her bear form. Since it couldn’t see, it wasn’t able to anticipate the attack and she was able to knock it over onto it’s back. It was then I saw the sword and dagger still protruding from the beast’s chest and I gasped in shock! Those were Duncan’s blades!

“Morrigan!” I shouted. “Back off! I’m going to freeze it again!” She quickly jumped back and I cast my strong ice spell again, freezing the ogre again. I then ran up to Morrigan. “Go after the necromancer, before he summons more undead. I’ll finish off the ogre!”

Her shaggy bear head nodded and she chased after the genlock.

I approached the ogre, which was already starting to break through the ice again. I took Duncan’s sword and with all of my strength, shoved it all the way into the beast’s heart and twisted it. Then I grabbed the dagger out and sliced it across the ogre’s throat, jumping back as it’s thick black blood gushed out. It was dead… again.

I pulled out the sword and together with the dagger, jammed them into a deep snowbank to help clean the blades off. Then I grabbed my staff to assist Morrigan in killing the necromancer.

By the time I reached her, however, the genlock was dead. She changed back into her human form and quickly drank a health potion.

“I hope it didn’t give you too much trouble,” I said.

“No, necromancer aside, ‘twas just a genlock. They aren’t that strong.”

I bent over it’s ugly form. Clipped to it’s belt was Cailan’s helm. We now had the complete set. I yanked it off the corpse and handed it to Morrigan. Then she and I walked back to the snowbank where I had stuck the sword and dagger. She gave me a grin and nodded. We both transformed into hawks. I grabbed the sword in one talon and the dagger in the other. She took the helm and the two of us flew off and back to where we’d find Wynne and Alistair.

 

Surprisingly, when we got back and dropped off our new items, Alistair had already chopped down several trees and laid them into a pyre. Cailan’s body already lying on top of the wood.

“We were just waiting for you,” Wynne explained. “When we were crossing over the bridge on our way back, we saw you both down there on the field below. So while Alistair was taking care of the trees for the pyre, I came back over to the bridge to keep an eye on you both. That shape-shifting ability you both used came in really handy. I’m glad you both were able to come back all right.”

“I appreciate that Wynne, thank you.”

“I see you found Cailan’s helm,” Alistair murmured. “Thank you.” Then he noticed the sword and dagger that I had brought back and his eyes widened in shock. “Are those…”

I didn’t turn to face him, but I nodded. “Duncan’s sword and dagger. They were in an ogre’s corpse down on the field.” I paused and then said, “Let’s organize everything into the packs. It’s the only way we’ll get everything back to the Circle. Then we can light the pyre and pay our final respects to Cailan.”

Alistair nodded, then asked, “Kylara? Is something wrong? You’re being a bit… distant.”

Still not looking at him, I quickly said, “It can wait until we get back.”

I heard him sigh. I then started organizing all of the items we had recovered. Once everything was repacked, Wynne nodded at me.

I cast my grease spell on the wood and then with a simple flame charm, lit the pyre. Wynne, Morrigan, and I backed off quietly. Alistair stayed where he was, staring at the flames. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke softly.

“Cailan, my King. You were a good man. Belovèd by the people, respected amongst the nobles. I swear this to you now, I **will** see to it that Loghain pays for yours and Duncan’s deaths. I will find a way to stop this Blight, and… I will,” he swallowed nervously, “I will do my best to be a good King in your stead.Fromwhat little I knew of him… you were every bit Maric’s son. I can only hope I live up to everyone’s expectations of me. I…” he took a deep breath. “I wish that circumstances could have been different. I wish we hadn’t had to pretend I never existed… I wish we could have been real brothers.” He fell silent and I could see him mouthing a prayer. Then he slowly turned and walked back over to us.

As he slipped his pack on in silence, I saw Wynne gently touch Alistair’s arm. “That was… lovely, Alistair. Truly.” She wiped a tear from her eye.

Alistair’s eyes were dry and I could see an angry glint in them. Before he could catch me looking at him, I quickly turned away. I then heard him say darkly, I’m glad we were able to do this for Cailan… but where the fuck is Duncan?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 27 I know it is canon that Cullen did not actually take his vows (it is optional for Templars), but at the time I first wrote about it, waaaay back in Chapter 10, I thought back then that he had, so that was my little error… and I’ve just decided to keep it.
> 
>  
> 
> Dedicating this to my Uncle, who just passed away. Though he probably wouldn't have understood this story, he always told me to never give up on my dreams.


	28. Troubles and Misunderstandings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Upon returning back to the Circle, the task at Ostagar completed, Kylara decides to confront Alistair about him attacking her with his Templar ability. She wants a resolution, but things don't go so smoothly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Digital modification, adding tears to Kylara's face, by the fantastic Padme4000 (https://www.deviantart.com/padme4000) Many thanks!!!
> 
> Amazing art of Cullen and Kylara, by the very lovely Ambellina (https://ambellinaleander.tumblr.com)

Once Cailan’s body was only ash, Alistair took a large fistful and secured them in a small leather pouch. Before anyone could ask why, he murmured, “I need to take this back to Eamon. They will want to give a proper funeral for Cailan in Denerim. It’s not much to bring back, but…”

Wynne nodded. “We understand, Alistair.”

When everyone was ready, I used the incantation to get us back to the Circle Tower. Perhaps it was because we all knew what the Tower looked like from the shore of Lake Calenhad, for we had no trouble with the spell this time. We all landed smoothly on the ground by the docks.

We all walked over to the cart. Shayle seemed surprised to see us.

“How did it get back here like that? One minute there was nothing by the shore, and then it and the others appeared out of nowhere.”

“Just a spell, Shayle.” I gave her a faint smile. I turned to the others but still couldn’t face Alistair just yet. “Let’s unload here. There is no reason to carry Cailan’s armor now. It’ll be safe on the cart.”

Duncan’s blades and Maric’s sword – which had been secured into my bedroll – were laid carefully in the cart. We then found a secure location for all of Cailan’s armor. I was happy to see that Wynne had retrieved the breastplate from where we had buried it outside of the Tower of Ishal. Alistair also handed me the Joining Chalice and I packed it away carefully. Then I hopped down off of the cart.

We all walked over to Kester’s home and I knocked.

“Welcome back again! No troubles on your errand?”

“A little trouble, but nothing that wasn’t able to be handled,” Alistair said.

“So I’m guessin’ you need me and Lissie to get you all to the Tower for the night?”

“Yes, please,” Wynne replied.

“No.”

Kester looked at me strangely. “Come again?”

“You will take them,” I said quietly. “I am not going.”

Alistair looked at me with shock. “What are you talking about, Kylara? Why aren’t you coming back to the Tower with us?”

“I will be getting a room here. At the inn. By myself.”

“What? Why?” Alistair exclaimed.

I closed my eyes for a moment and then asked, “Kester, Wynne, Morrigan? Would you give Alistair and I some privacy for a moment?”

“Sure thing,” Kester nodded. To Wynne and Morrigan he said, come on down to me boat. I’ll go ahead and take you across and then come back here.”

Wynne looked at me with sympathy and then she walked down with Kester and Morrigan to the boat. We waited until he started poling the boat to the Tower.

Alistair looked at me curiously. “Now, what is going on? You’ve been acting strangely for a while now.”

“You don’t remember?” I glared at him.

“You won’t look at me and you’ve barely spoken to me since… since before I…” It suddenly seemed to dawn on him.

“Yes,” I spoke bluntly, my arms folded across my chest. “Since before you hit me with your Templar ability.”

“I-I…” he seemed to be at a loss for words. “I’m sorry.”

My eyes must have started to glow in anger. Alistair took a step back. “Sorry?! Sorry that you drained me of all my mana and left me helpless on that bridge?! What if Wynne and Morrigan hadn’t been there to assist me? I could have been attacked by darkspawn and I would have had no way to defend myself!” My fury knew no bounds at that moment. My voice raised in pitch and volume. “I know you were angry because of what the darkspawn had done to Cailan, but that was no excuse for you to act the way you did to me! I thought we had covered that during our discussion earlier that day… that we were a team and we are supposed to work together!” Tears were now streaming down my face. “You hurt me! You left me behind! And just what do you think would have happened to me if the darkspawn had killed you?! It was **dumb** and **foolish** Alistair!” I turned away from him. “So for the moment, I don’t want to be anywhere near you.”

I was fully expecting Alistair to beg for my forgiveness, but instead, his next reaction shocked me. He whirled me back around to face him, his own eyes now glowing in anger as well. “And what about what you did to me?! You hit me with a paralyze spell! I had warned you that there was a possibility of me reacting the way I did!”

“I paralyzed you to stop you from running off half-assed! I was worried you were going to get yourself killed! I did it to try and protect you!” I yelled.

His eyes narrowed at me and he seethed, “I didn’t need **protecting**! I needed someone to understand my pain and grief… which clearly, you did not!”

“Alistair, stop being so fucking stupid!”

“Stupid, huh?” He took a step back from me, a cold look on his face. “Never thought I’d hear that word come from your lips to be aimed at me. So, is that what you really think of me now?” The silence stretched out thick between us. “I see,” he finally said. “Well, if that is how you feel about me, then perhaps it should just end with us now. It’s clear it wouldn’t have worked out with us anyways.” He picked up his pack and started walking away. “After all, I’m going to be King… and you? You’re just a commoner. A mere mage.” He walked down to the dock and as soon as Kester had returned, Alistair got into the boat without a backward glance.

Kester glanced at me, a questioning look on his face. With a lump in my throat, I feebly waved my hand at him to indicate he should just leave. I saw him nod faintly and he picked up his pole and set off across the lake again.

I collapsed to my knees as sobs wracked my body. Even though there had not been a cloud in the night sky, rain suddenly began to fall. All too soon I was soaking wet.

_Maker’s Breath! What had I just done?!_

 

By the time Kester came back again, the rain had become a drizzle. Kester looked up at the sky and then down at me.

“No clouds… and the rain only seems to be falling… here? Magic?” Kester came over to me. “Ah, lassie. Come with me now. Come to me home. We need to get you dried off now; you’re soaked through!”

He helped me to my feet and carefully led me to his house. Once inside, “Maisie, love? We need something to dry off with. Young Kylara here was caught in the rain.”

“Yes, that was an odd storm,” she mused as she brought some cloths out to the front doorway where Kester was waiting with me. “’Twas not a cloud in the sky…” Then she saw my face. “Oh, my dear! What happened?!” She handed Kester the cloths and then said, “I’ll fetch a warm blanket! Wait here!”

A moment later Maisie had me bundled up in a large comforter. She sat me in a chair close to the fire. She turned to her husband. “Kester, dear? What happened to her?”

He pulled his wife aside and spoke to her quietly. “Seems she and her fellow Grey Warden had a fight. I think they were… a couple. She was going to get a room at the Spoiled Princess, alone, and he didn’t seem happy about that.”

“Where is he at then?” she asked.

“He’s back at the Tower now with the rest of their group. She told me to go ahead and take him across. Perhaps once he’s had some time to cool off his anger, things will get better.”

“Well, once she’s dried off, let’s get her situated over there. I’d keep her here, but we haven’t the room.”

“Aye.”

A moment later, Maisie brought me a brandy. “Kylara, sweetie. Here. Drink this.”

I numbly took the glass from her and swallowed the entire glass, paying no mind to the burn of the strong liquor. A few moments later I felt a warmth spread through my limbs.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she kindly asked.

I shook my head, then mumbled, “No.” Tears trickled out of my eyes again and rain began to fall outside the home again.

Maisie looked out of the window nervously, my magic rain making her slightly uncomfortable. “Um, listen. I know you’ve had something bad happen, but do you think you might try and stop that rain? ‘Tis not a natural storm.”

I glanced outside the window and concentrated. The rain stopped again. “Sorry,” I said softly.

She gave a faint smile. “It’s all right.” She sighed and then asked, “Do you think you’ll be okay to walk to the inn next door now? Kester will keep an eye on you. Make sure you get there.”

I slowly got up, took off the comforter, and folded it up. After placing it on the chair, I said, “I think I can manage that short walk. Sorry if my magic frightened you, I didn’t mean for that to happen. Thank you for looking after me Maisie. You too, Kester.”

He nodded politely.

I then left their house and headed to the Spoiled Princess. Outside, Shayle saw me and beckoned me over.

As I approached, she asked, “Is it all right? I… heard the fight between it and the other Warden.”

I could feel the tears again but fought to keep it inside, for now. “No, Shayle. I am not all right. I… hurt. Inside.”

“I have been a golem for so long, I really do not remember what it is like to have the full range of emotions. I mean, I know anger, because of birds… and I guess I know… contentment, when there are no birds. But other than that? I guess I am not the right being to ask about this.”

“It’s okay, Shayle.” I paused for a moment, then asked her. “Did you ever know… love?”

She shook her stone head. “I might have… long ago. When I was still a dwarf, I mean. But I don’t remember it. From what I have observed of it and the other Warden… is that what ‘love’ is?

“Was, Shayle.” My head drooped. “What we had was love. But not anymore.”

“It’s crystal necklace… it does not shine now.”

I looked down at the necklace Alistair had given me. It was dark. When I touched it, it was ice cold. I drew my hand away in shock. “He gave this to me a little over a month ago. He has a similar one to mine. They were made… to remember… our special bond.”

“If it gets back together with the other Warden, will the crystal shine again?”

“I… don’t think that is going to happen now, Shayle.”

“I’m… sorry. I’d offer it comfort if I knew how.”

“Thank you, I guess.” I tried swallowing the lump in my throat, but it wouldn’t go down. “I better get to the inn now.”

 

Meanwhile, back at the Circle Tower, Alistair was pacing back and forth in the guest room he had recently shared with Kylara, getting even angrier by the moment. _Why?! Why did she not understand?!_ His thoughts were as bitter as the bile churning in his stomach. He gripped a nearby bookshelf, and then a moment later, swept the books to the floor in anger. _I_ _ **know**_ _we are a team and we work together! But that was our King… my_ _ **brother**_ _stung up there! Even if we weren’t raised together, he was still my… family. How else was I supposed to react?! If she really love_ _d_ _me, she_ _w_ _ould have understood!_

A sudden knock on the door startled him from his brooding. “Who is it?” he called out.

“It’s Wynne. May I please come in, Alistair?”

“Not really in the mood to talk right now,” he mumbled, quiet enough that only he heard his voice. He opened the door somewhat reluctantly, keeping his red-rimmed eyes on the floor.

“Alistair,” Wynne’s eyes swept the room, seeing the books that had once been on the bookshelf, now scattered all over the floor. “Are you… all right?” There was clear concern on her elderly face.

“Does it **look** like I am **alright**?” He walked over to the fireplace in the room, heaved a sigh, and then muttered, “I thought she understood my pain.” he said, repeating his earlier thoughts.

“She understands more than you realize. How many of her friends died during Uldred’s attack on us? What about the fact that she lost everything she had ever known when she left here with Duncan?”

“That’s… not the same thing! Cailan was **family**!”

“But you didn’t grow up together. You knew him more as our King, rather than as a brother.” Wynne saw Alistair scowl.

“She shouldn’t have cast that spell on me! I wanted to make them pay for what they’d done!”

“We all did, Alistair!” Wynne had tears in her eyes. “She only tried to stop you because she didn’t want you to have to deal with it alone!”

“Well, what’s done is done. The darkspawn are dead, Cailan has been avenged, his soul has been sent to the Maker, and once the archdemon is dead, I will be King…”

“And that’s it? What about Kylara? Don’t you love her?”

“I… thought I did. I guess I was wrong.”

The look Wynne gave him at that moment made him cringe. Hands on her hips, she scolded, “After all that the two of you have been through together, you are going to let one argument tear you both apart?!”

“It’s probably for the best, Wynne. Eamon expects me to marry a noblewoman one I am King… and…”

“Now you’re just looking for an excuse.” Wynne frowned and walked to the door. “I am very disappointed in you, Alistair. I thought you were a better man than this.” She left and closed the door behind her.

Alistair turned to face the fire. His hands gripped the mantle tightly and he stared into the flames.

A voice suddenly spoke out. “You are a fool, you know this?”

He whirled around to find Morrigan, standing in the dark corner of the room, her cat-like eyes narrowed hatefully at him.

“ - the fuck?! How did **you** get in here?”

“Does it matter? I am here and you will listen to what I have to say.”

“Oh? You have words of wisdom for little ol’ me?” Alistair clapped his hands and held them to his chest. “I am **so** honored, really!”

“’Tis very tempting to hex you at this moment!”

“Well, I don’t see you waggling your fingers at me right now…” Alistair smirked.

“Don’t push me, Alistair! You’ve always been on thin ice with me from day one… but for what you have just done to Kylara, breaking her heart like that… I should make your toenails grow inside out and warts to sprout all over your face!” Morrigan turned away and muttered, “I always thought she could have done better than you… but,” she sighed, “she made her choice.”

“Are you quite finished lecturing me now? If so, then get the fuck out of my room.”

Morrigan walked slowly to the door. Before she opened it, she faced Alistair one last time. “You don’t deserve her… and yet, she still loves you! Even after all of this? I’d try to make her see reason, but…” She stopped, shook her head, and then said, “Only one thing left to say to you, and ‘tis this… If you don’t apologize and make it up to her… or worse, you hurt her again, and I will make sure you are miserable for the rest of your pathetic life.” She walked out the door, making it slam shut behind her.

Alistair let out a shaky breath after she had left, his bravado gone. That woman still scared the blight out of him! He had no doubts she’d do exactly as she had threatened. He also knew that this was only the beginning. Once Wynne and Morrigan told the rest of the group…

“I’m never going to hear the end of this,” he muttered. He slowly began removing his armor, preparing himself for sleep. Once he’d pulled off his linen undershirt, his crystal necklace brushed up against his skin.

“Ah! Cold!” He reached his fingers up and briefly touched the crystal. The cold stung him again. “What in the void?” He walked over to a small reflecting glass in the bathing area of the room and looked at the necklace in the reflection. “Black? I-I don’t understand?” He reached around and tried to undo the clasp, but the chain refused to come loose. Resigned, he let it go, wincing again as the cold crystal brushed again his skin, and then walked over to the bed.

Sitting on the edge, he reached for his pack. _Have I really done the right thing? I mean, she did attack me. But then, I also attacked her back. She’s also right. My attack left her helpless. I suppose she does have every right to be angry at me for what I did._ His fingers finally closed on the item he had been searching for. _But what am I really to do here?! Eamon expects me to marry some noblewoman so I can have a proper Queen. Grey Wardens can’t have_ _children_ _though, so even if I did marry someone who didn’t have the same taint as I do, chances are I still won’t be able to father a child… meaning the Theirin bloodline dies with me!_ He pulled out the small box. _So, if I am doing the right thing by breaking it off with the one person I truly loved… why does it feel so_ _ **wrong**_ _?_

He opened the box to stare at two wedding rings he had made in Orzammar, each one holding another piece of their special crystal. He then slowly closed the box and placed it back in his pack.

A tear fell from his eye and landed on his shaking hand.

 

Cullen frowned as he stood near the guest room. _Since when have I become an eavesdropper?_ But his concern for what he’d overheard, outweighed the guilty feeling he’d had about listening in on the two conversations. _If she’s there alone, I should probably check and make sure she is all right. A lot of unsavory types have been known to hang out at that tavern. At least I am not needed for duty tonight._ He headed back to his room and put on some inconspicuous clothing. Then he left the Tower and headed down to the docks.

 

Back at The Spoiled Princess, I sat down in a dim corner in the back of the room, the candle on my table nearly burnt to the stub. I placed my pack on the floor near my chair. Felsi saw me and walked over. “Oghren’s not with you tonight? You’re here by yourself?”

I nodded. “I’d like two things. A room for the night – if there’s one available, and two, a bottle of the strongest thing you have to drink here.”

“Rooms we’ve got. Don’t get a lot of overnight travelers here. As for the drink, we’ve a stout that’s pretty strong.”

I shook my head and mumbled, “I’m gonna need something stronger than that.”

“Whatever for?” She immediately blushed and then said, “I don’t mean to pry, but you just don’t strike me as the heavy-drinker type.”

I couldn’t help it, a tear slowly ran down my cheek. “I… just want to numb the pain right now. Maybe it will help me… forget… for a while.”

“Very well, I’ll be right back.” She headed to the bar and talked to her boss. A moment later she came back to my table with a key and a glass of brown liquid.

I took the key from her and then frowned. “I thought I asked for a bottle.”

“Brock suggests you try this first, then let me know if you want more.”

I nodded and took the glass from her and sniffed the contents. Unlike the smooth vanilla, honey, and smoky wood aromas that had come from Teagan’s brandy, or the very slight tart apple smell that Kester’s had had, this just burned my nose with a strong acidic tang. Beyond the point of caring anymore, I chugged the whole glass down in one swallow. Immediately, I began coughing from the harsh bite of alcohol and I felt it burning its way down to my stomach.

“Warned you, didn’t I?” Felsi smirked.

I wiped the tears from my eyes and choked out, “It’s fine. Bring me the bottle.”

Felsi’s eyes widened in surprise, but then she shrugged. “All right then. Be right back with it.” She headed back to the bar and a few minutes later came back over, unlabeled bottle in hand. After setting it on the table, I poured myself another glass. Felsi stood there watching me as I chugged down another burning mouthful of the potent liquor.

“Is there something you want?” I asked, not hiding my annoyance that she was standing there, watching me.

A worried look crossed her face. “It’s… just that you were here a few nights ago with Oghren and a bunch of people that looked like friends. Now you’re here, alone, and drinking something that we ought to use as paint thinner.” My glare had her back up a step. “Look, I don’t mean to be nosy, but something bad must’ve happened. Would you consider telling me why you’re here drinking alone? I can be a sympathetic ear if nothing else.”

I downed another glass of fire-water. “What d’ya see in Oghren?” I slurred, the alcohol definitely numbing the edges of my hurting heart. “He’s crass, rude, an’ a drunkard…”

“Yes, he is all of those,” Felsi replied. “But he’s also loyal, a tough fighter, and he makes me laugh.” She was silent for a moment and then said, “But this isn’t about him, is it?” I shook my head. “I understand now. That tall fellow you were with, something happened between you both?”

“Yep,” I poured another drink and swallowed it quickly. “You can say tha’. An’ I don’ wanna talk ‘bout it.” I reached for the bottle again to pour another and accidentally knocked it over. Felsi quickly set it back upright.

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough, miss? I warned you it was strong…”

“I deshide when I ‘ave enuff,” I mumbled.

“Fine. I’m not your mother. Do what you like then,” she walked off shaking her head slowly.

I poured and drank another, then sat back and sighed. Just then the shadows around me got darker.

“Lookee here, Rowan. Lil’ bird in ‘ere all by ‘er lonesome.”

“I see that, Vaughn. Think she might wanna play?”

I sat up as straight as I could, which wasn’t easy since the liquor was taking its toll on me. “Don’ fuck with me… I’ve ‘ad a shit day.”

“Ooh, lil’ bird ‘ere has a dirty lil’ mouth now, don’t she?” Vaughn leered at me.

“Ima powerful mage. I’ll turn ya both inna toads, ya mess wit’ me.”

Rowan’s eyes narrowed. “If’n you’re a mage, how’s it you ain’t in the Tower under lock an’ key like them other mages?”

“Jus’ leave me alone!” I hissed.

“She’s got some spirit, eh? I think I’d enjoy breakin’ her,” Rowan grinned maliciously.

“You’ll do nothing of the sort,” a third male voice spoke up. I couldn’t see his face as he was wearing a hooded cloak. “Now I suggest the two of you leave and do not return.”

“Who in t’void are you to come an’ spoil our fun?” Vaughn spat.

Quicker than I could process what happened next, the hooded stranger grabbed Vaughn’s arm, twisted it violently behind his back, and then slammed his head against the table. As Vaughn screeched in pain, Rowan took out a dagger, but Brock had also come up to intervene. He held a sword to Rowan’s throat.

“Thought I’d already told you both do not come in here! Not get outta my tavern!”

Felsi came up and took Rowan’s dagger from his limp hand.

“Fine. We’ll leave. But jus’ so you know, you serve piss for ale here,” Rowan spat.

The stranger let go of Vaughn and the two of them stumbled out.

“Has she a room?” I faintly heard the stranger ask.

“Room two, up the stairs,” Felsi said. “She put the key in her pack.”

“Thank you. Come on now, Kylara. Let’s get you up to your room.” He helped me to my feet, which wasn’t easy since my whole body felt like a limp noodle now. Felsi handed him the key to my room and then she followed behind him, carrying my pack and my staff.

I stumbled on the stairs. “Woah, easy there now,” I heard Felsi say. “Come on, that’s it. One foot in front of the other… there you go.”

The stranger put the key in the lock and opened the door to the room. There was a full-sized bed in there and a basin for washing. The chamber pot was in the far corner. The stranger put a sovereign into Felsi’s hand. “Can you get a fire going in the fireplace and bring up a tub for a bath for her?” She nodded and disappeared back downstairs.

I struggled against the stranger’s hold on me. “I don’ need helph. I wuz doin’ jus’ fine. Now lemme go.”

The stranger sighed and helped me sit on the edge of the bed. He then pulled off my boots.

Felsi brought up some firewood and quickly got a roaring fire going. Then she grabbed the metal tub that had been in the opposite corner of the room. After setting that up, she pulled out the privacy screen and a linen towel. She ran back down the stairs and a moment later came up with two large buckets of water. She tipped them into a larger cauldron and then swung that over the fire to heat the water. One more trip down and then back up she came with two more buckets. One she also dumped into the cauldron, the last she left cold.

Once the water was hot, she swung the cauldron back out, tipped the hot water into the tub and then added some cold to make it warm. Felsi then set the privacy screen in front of the tub and then left the two of us alone. The stranger shut the door.

“So now whadya want wif me?” I slurred out. “Ya save me from t’others, then ya bring me up here t’my room. Expectin’ me to let ya haf yer way wif me now?

“Ah… um, no.” The stranger cleared his throat nervously. “I just wanted to make sure you are safe.”

“Why d’ya care?” I glared at him, wobbling on the bed.

“Because you were… you **are** my friend.” He pulled the hood off of his head.

“Cullen…” I gasped before I suddenly blacked out.

 

I awoke a few moments later, a cool cloth on my forehead, and amber eyes looking at me with concern. I slowly sat up; my head spinning and throbbing. “Cullen,” I murmured. “What’re you doin’ here?”

He blushed deeply. “I… happened to overhear what happened between you and … Alistair.”

Tears immediately began pouring from my eyes. Cullen, clearly at a loss on how to help a blubbering female, just kept gently patting the cool cloth against my face. Unfortunately, I cried so hard that all of the sour liquor in my stomach suddenly decided to come back up in the most unpleasant manner. I quickly got up, ignoring the pounding in my skull, and just barely made it to the (thankfully) empty chamberpot.

When there was nothing left but dry heaves, I slowly stood up, grabbed the pitcher and a cup from the nearby dresser and poured myself some water. I drank it down quickly and then staggered back to where Cullen was sitting on the bed, worry etched on his face.

“I… I am sorry,” I mumbled, wobbling on my feet. He slowly stood and held me against him.

“Come on now,” he said softly. Why don’t you go ahead and take your bath before the water gets cold? I’ll leave the room.”

“Please don’ leave me alone…”

“But, ah… You really should have some privacy. Besides, I um…”

“There’s a screen.”

He gulped. “Well, okay… I’ll just turn around then.” He suited word to action and turned around to allow me privacy to undress.

I slowly unbuttoned my robe, took off the outer layer, slid out of the inner slip, then draped them both over the privacy screen. Standing there in only the leggings and my breast band, I spoke softly, “Cullen? Do you think I am pretty?”

He turned to face me and then quickly cried out, “Maker’s Breath!” His face beet red, he quickly turned his back to me again. “I-I’m sorry! I thought you still had your clothes on!”

“But you didn’ anser my question.” My voice was still a bit fuzzy.

Still not facing me, he quickly answered, “Y-yes. You are pretty. But you know I can’t…” He turned slightly back towards me only to notice I had now removed my breast band and leggings. His eyes goggled. “K-Kylara… please! Oh, Maker!” He tried to turn his head away again but seemed to have some difficulty.

I slowly walked towards him. As I advanced, he backed up until he bumped up against the door. He shut his eyes. “Why, if I am pretty as you say, why can’t you look at me?” I asked petulantly.

“Kylara… I-I took vows. You **know** this.” His Adam’s apple bobbed nervously. “Y-you’re drunk, you’re not thinking clearly.” He paused and then said, “Please don’t make me regret coming here to help you.”

That made me stop cold. I covered my breasts with my arms and hands. I backed up a few steps. I looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry, Cullen. It’s jus’ I feel so… unwanted now. I… though’ he loved me… that we truly had somethin’ special between us!” Tears began coming from my eyes again.

Cullen took a few steps forward and grabbed the linen towel off of the privacy screen. He wrapped it around my shoulders and then held me again, but not too closely this time. “Come now, take your bath. I won’t leave the room, but please respect my vows, all right? Once you are done, we can talk about what happened, if you like.”

I nodded slowly and stepped behind the screen. I draped the towel back over the screen, then removed my smalls. I stepped into the warm water.

The tub was small and though the water only came up just over my hips, it still felt relaxing. I found a dry sponge hanging on the privacy screen and took it into my hands, wet it, and used it to wash.

All too soon the water was cold. “Cullen? You there?”

“Yes,” he replied from the other side of the screen.

“I should have a long nightshirt in my pack?”

“I’ll check.” A moment later, it was draped over the screen.

“Thank you.” I didn’t hear a reply, so I went ahead and got out of the tub. I pat myself dry, slipped on my smalls, and then thinking he’d be nervous if I didn’t have it on, slipped my breast band back on as well… even though I preferred to sleep without it. That thought, of course, brought on fresh tears again. No warm, loving Alibear to snuggle against anymore? I’d gotten so used to it, how would I sleep tonight?

I pulled the long nightshirt over my head and then stepped from behind the screen. Cullen seemed relieved to see me dressed and gave a faint smile, but when he saw the fresh tear tracks on my face – despite my recent bath – he grew concerned again.

“Do you feel well enough to talk about it now?” Cullen asked.

I sniffed a few times, trying to get my emotions under control. “I think so,” I replied softly. I was feeling a lot more clear-headed since I’d thrown up the majority of the alcohol I’d drunk (though I knew I’d still likely have a horrible headache come the morning…) We sat down on the edge of the bed together.

Cullen took one of my hands into his, which helped me stay calm. “So, how did the two of you meet?” **2** **8**

I took a deep breath and began. “After Duncan recruited me into the Grey Wardens, and I left the Tower, we traveled together down to Ostagar where the darkspawn battle was expected to take place. Alastair was the junior Grey Warden. He was to help me and the other two recruits go through our joining ritual. However, only I survived it.”

“What happened to the other two recruits?”

“Daveth did not survive the process and Ser Jory tried to back out of the ritual which is not allowed.”

“I don’t understand. What do you mean he's not allowed to back out?”

I sighed. “I really cannot tell you that. The ritual is a secret and I promised Duncan I wouldn’t talk about that with anyone else.”

Cullen nodded. “I can respect that. Even our Templar Order has some secrets.”

“The point is that only Alistair and I were there at Ostagar to light the beacon while Duncan and the rest of the senior Grey Wardens we're fighting on the battlefront against the darkspawn.” I paused, then asked, “How much have you heard about what happened at Ostagar?”

“Not much to be honest,” Cullen replied. “All I remember is getting the news that everybody had died down there and Loghain was declaring himself Regent since Cailan was gone.”

“You didn’t think it suspicious that only Loghain and his troops survived?”

“A little, perhaps. Of course, you know what happened after that for The Circle and me. How that all quickly spiraled out of control.” Cullen closed his eyes and shuddered.

I gave his hand a small squeeze. “Since you are being so kind and helping me, I'm willing to listen, if you feel like talking about that…”

“Honestly I'm not sure if I can. At least not at this time. I'm still a little messed up over the whole situation.” He gave a faint smile. “Thank you for the offer though. Perhaps if our paths cross again in the future…”

“I understand. Anyways, as I told you earlier, because of Loghain’s betrayal, Alistair and I were ambushed by darkspawn at the top of the Tower of Ishal. We both nearly died. It was Morrigan's mother who saved us. After healing us, we left with Morrigan and journeyed up to Lothering. While there, we managed to evacuate the town from the oncoming darkspawn horde. As we then traveled west towards Redcliffe, I got the feeling that something was wrong at the Circle Tower. So we came up that way to investigate and that's when I found out about Uldred…”

“Please do not say that man's name!” Cullen pleaded.

I gave his hand another squeeze. “Sorry.” Cullen gave a brief nod. I continued, “So after we saved the Tower, we began our journey back to Redcliffe. During that time, Alastair admitted to having feelings towards me and we began a relationship. We've been together ever since.” Despite my trying to stay calm, new tears began to fall.

Cullen handed me a cloth to wipe my tears. “So then what happened? If you've been together this long, what suddenly caused you to split up?”

I took a deep breath, dabbed at my tears, and said, “Something happened recently while we were here. I had a vision that told me we needed to return to Ostagar. That was where Wynne, Morrigan, Alistair and I went a few days ago.”

“Why did you go back there?”

“We had to find King Cailan's body and put it to rest. We couldn’t just leave him there to rot amongst the darkspawn!”

“You mean Loghain didn’t send anyone down there to do that?” Cullen was aghast.

“No. Bastard has been sitting on our King’s throne and couldn’t be bothered,” I spat in anger.

“So you and Alistair took care of him?”

“Wynne and Morrigan were with us too… but yes, we found his remains and built a pyre to take care of them. We also found his armor and King Maric’s sword.”

“That’s good. But I still don’t understand how you and Alistair were together when you left, and when you returned… well…”

“Seeing what the darkspawn had done to our King – ” Cullen looked like he was about to ask about that, so I quickly cut him off by saying, “Trust me, you don’t want to know. It was… awful.” He nodded and then bade me continue. “Well, when Alistair saw they’d done to Cailan, he went completely berserk!”

“Cailan was a good man. I suppose I might have done the same…” Cullen began, but I shook my head.

“Not like that! No, this was far more… personal… for Alistair.”

Cullen frowned. “Care to explain, instead of only giving cryptic hints?”

I hesitated for a moment, wondering whether or not Alistair would want me to reveal his heritage to anyone outside of those that already knew. But I trusted Cullen, so I decided to tell him. “It affected Alistair more… because Alistair… is Cailan's brother.”

Cullen’s mouth dropped open for a moment, then he said, “Are you saying that Alistair is also King Maric's son? That we have an heir to the throne after all?”

I nodded. “Yes. Alastair is King Maric’s son. But because his mother was a serving girl at Redcliffe Castle, he was kept a secret… being a bastard.”

Cullen looked so excited by the prospect of us having a legitimate King again, I thought he was about to rush downstairs and shout out the news to anyone who’d listen.

I snapped my fingers in front of his face. “Cullen!”

“What?”

“I am telling you this in confidence.”

“I don’t understand. Why keep it a secret?” he asked, slightly confused. “We should be telling all of Ferelden this great news!”

“No! Eamon plans to put him forward as heir at the upcoming Landsmeet in late spring, so please do me a favor and not say **anything** … to **anyone** for now. We don’t want Loghain to be aware of our plans.”

“Loghain and Maric were good friends… Don’t you think he’s aware of the possibility?”

“He may already suspect, but that’s not the point! I am trusting you with this secret. Will you keep it?”

Reluctantly, he nodded. “I will not betray your trust.”

I breathed out a sigh of relief.

“So is that what split you two up? Because he's going to be King?”

“Not exactly,” I replied, tears misting my eyes again. “What happened… was that after he saw what had happened to Cailan, Alistair was going to try and attack all of the darkspawn on his own. So I tried to stop him by casting a paralyze spell. It made him angry and he used Holy Smite on me.”

“He did what?!” Cullen was shocked. “That ability drains you of your mana!”

“I know. He left me there on the bridge and ran off. Fortunately, Morrigan and Wynne were there to help me.”

“I can't believe he did that to you!”

“He was upset over what the darkspawn had done to his brother, so I can sort of understand his anger… but it certainly did not excuse what he did to me! So when we returned from Ostagar, we had an argument and that's when he broke it off with me…” I had been holding them back for a while, but at that last statement, I started crying again. “I don't know what else to say now, Cullen, except that I love him! Love him more than words can say!” I sobbed and buried my face in his shirt. Muffled, I wailed out, “But it… hurts! Love is supposed to feel good, not hurt like this! I-I just want this pain to stop! I want to forget… but I can’t!”

“But what about him being King? Since you're a mage you wouldn't be able to be with him anyway, right? You don't have noble blood.”

I pulled myself back and stared at Cullen in anger. He flinched a bit at my glare. “I know that, all right! We were going to try and find a way to work it out! It could be that I would have stayed on his mistress or something like that!” My head drooped. “But now he doesn't want to be with me…” I collapsed against his chest again. “I don't know what I'm going to do! How can I work with him now to stop the Blight?!”

Cullen was at a bit of a loss as to what to say or do next. He sighed. _I’ve no experience on how to handle this further,_ he thought. _I’d hoped it would help her to talk about it… but it seems I might have made it worse._ He pat me gently on my back and cleared his throat. “Um, look. I’m sure that maybe in a day or two, you both might – ”

I shook my head. “No. I’m afraid it’s over,” I responded bleakly. “I was a fool to think it would have worked.”

“Do you want me to try and talk with him about it?” Cullen asked.

“And say what exactly? He’s probably already gotten his ear chewed off by the whole group!” I nibbled my bottom lip and then said, “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the offer, but I don’t know what you could say that would be different from what my other friends may have already said to him.”

“Perhaps. But I could still try.”

“Really? You’d do that… for me?”

“Yes.” He then yawned. “Maker, I don’t know how late it is, but I should probably get back to Kinloch.” He stood up. “Let’s get you settled for the night…”

My eyes went wide and I stood up and grabbed Cullen’s hand. “Please! Don’t leave me all alone tonight! I don’t want to be here all by myself!”

“B-but there is only one bed here! You can’t expect me to…”

“I’m clothed, Cullen. You are as well. I won’t do anything, I promise!!” He still looked terrified at the prospect of being in the same bed as me. “Please, Cullen. I am begging you!”

He looked in my eyes and seeing my desperation, finally relented. “All right. I’ll stay.”

“Thank you.” I breathed a sigh of relief. I pulled back the covers and crawled into the bed. Then I scooted over to the far side of it. He covered me up and then propped up the other pillow against the headboard. Then he sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard. “Are you going to be comfortable like that?” I muttered sleepily.

“Not really.” Still, he gave me a faint smile. “But what are friends for?”

 

Sometime during the night, when the fire in the fireplace was only glowing coals, I felt Cullen begin to shake in his sleep. I woke up just as he began to mutter.

“No… no, please! Stop! G-get out of my mind, demon! You **will** not break me! Leave me! NO!” He began to thrash around, terror on his face.

 _He is still having nightmares about his torture! I need to help him, somehow!_ I propped myself into a sitting position and when his hand passed near me, I quickly reached out and grabbed it. His hand was very sweaty, but I held on. I put my cool palm on his forehead and began to alternate between quietly murmuring, “Shhhh… easy now,” and humming a soft tune that I had heard Leliana sing around our camps. It took a while, but soon he stopped thrashing about and eventually began to relax again. His breathing calmed down and he drifted off to sleep again.

I smiled gently. _I hope that one day, my friend, that you will find someone to love. Someone who_ _will_ _care and protect you, just as much as_ _I know_ _you would care and protect them. Even though love can hurt sometimes, all in all, it is a good thing._ _I know that o_ _ne can serve the Maker and still_ _be allowed to_ _love_ _another_ _._ _You just need to find the right person_ _to share your life with_ _._ I briefly knelt up and placed a tender kiss on the corner of Cullen’s mouth. I saw his lips curve into a gentle smile and he relaxed even further. Then I lay down and went back to sleep.

 

The early light of dawn woke Cullen from his restful slumber. At first, when he looked around the room, he didn’t recognize his surroundings. Then he felt a light pressure on his thigh. He looked down and saw Kylara. Sometime during the night, she had moved her head from the pillow to his leg. She was snoring slightly.

At first, he was slightly upset. _Maker’s Breath! She promised me she wouldn’t do… this…_ Then he remembered. Last night his sleep had been uneasy from the start because he was in the same room – the same **bed** as a woman! Then his nightmares had started up.

Right after the incident at the Tower, he had horrible nightmares every time his eyes closed. They had slowly become less frequent as time passed, but when he still got them, they were every bit as graphic, vivid, and downright terrifying as they’d been the very first time he’d had them.

But last night? He recollected the nightmare had started as it usually did… but then? He vaguely remembered someone whispering and singing to him… and then the nightmare stopped. Just like that. _Did_ _Kylara help me_ _last night_ _? She must have. It’s the only explanation._

His gaze softened as he looked at her sleeping peacefully. Slowly, he reached out his hand and gently touched her hair. _Soft,_ he thought. _So very soft. And yet, she is a fighter. She fought to save me, she’s fighting to save Ferelden._ _She is truly special. I… I almost wish I could…_ He sighed. _But, of course, I_ _ **can’t**_ _. I know that eventually, my vows will allow me to be with someone special… someday. But that person will have a lot to live up to._

He stroked her hair a few more times and then carefully withdrew his hand. _I_ _only hope that Alistair will forgive her, and she forgives him. Let them move on from this. We need both of them since they are all that is left of the Grey Wardens._ _Hopefully,_ _Alistair_ _will_ _realize what he has in her._

The light was slowly getting brighter outside. _Better wake her. I need to get back to Kinloch too… I am sure my absence has been noticed by now._ He gently shook her shoulder. “Kylara? I hate to wake you so early, but we need to get up now.”

“Hmm? Wha?” I slowly opened my eyes… and immediately regretted it. “Oh… shit, my head.” I quickly murmured the spell to alleviate the worst of the pain and then sat all the way up. “Oh. Good morning, Cullen. Sorry about that.”

“It’s all right. You had a pretty horrible night. I’ll let the curse you uttered slide.” He gave a wry smile. “Just don’t do that again.”

I chuckled inwardly. _Good thing he hasn’t heard me on other occasions…_ “What time is it?” I asked.

“I don’t know. It’s early, but I really need to get back to Kinloch. I’m sure Carroll has already reported my truancy to Greagoir. Go ahead and use the privacy screen and get dressed.”

I did as he had asked and a few moments later came back around in my full mage robes. I packed my nightshirt, then grabbed my pack and staff. “Okay, I’m ready.”

Cullen had put his cloak on from the night before but left the hood down. “All right, let’s go.”

We headed downstairs and I stopped briefly by the bar and left the room key and a few sovereigns to cover the mess I knew they’d have to clean.

Just before we left the tavern, I gave Cullen a quick hug. “Thank you for helping and taking care of me last night. It meant a lot.”

“You’re welcome.” He took my hand into his and used his other on the door to open it. “Now, let’s get you reunited with your companions.”

We both walked out into the bright morning sunlight smiling… and then my face froze. Sitting on a bench outside of the Spoiled Princess was… Alistair.

He had looked up when the door opened and saw Cullen and me… holding hands. I quickly dropped it.

The look on Alistair’s face went from neutral to an icy scowl in the space of mere seconds. “I see,” he grated out. “So that’s how it is.” He slowly stood up, took a few steps away from us, then turned and punched Cullen right in the face!

Cullen fell to the ground, clutching his broken nose and bleeding lip.

“Bastard!” Alistair bellowed at Cullen. Then he turned and stalked off. He grabbed his sword and shield off the cart, grabbed his pack, and then retrieved his horse from the stable.

I had just stood there in utter shock unable to react. Finally, with tears in my eyes, I knelt down to Cullen. I spoke a healing spell to stop the bleeding.

“Cullen! I-I’m so sorry! I can’t believe he did that!”

Even though the blood had stopped, his face was beginning to swell. “Don’t worry about me. Go. Go to him! Tell him the truth!”

I nodded and ran up to Alistair just as he was mounting his horse.

“Alistair! Wait! What you just saw… it was all a misunderstanding!”

“Sure,” he seethed. “I just bet it was.” He nudged the horse to get it moving. “I’m riding ahead… alone. And you? You stay away from me!”

After Alistair had ridden off. I ran over to Lake Calenhad and did a small freezing spell to get a chunk of ice for Cullen’s face. I walked back to him and handed the ice over. He took it gratefully and held the ice chunk to his nose and lip.

“Cullen I am sorry, so very sorry!” I said. “He didn't even give me the chance to explain!”

“It's all right,” he replied. “Let's get you back to Kinloch so that I can check in with my knight Commander and we can get you reunited with your friends.”

“We should also get Wynne to look at your nose and lip. I'm sure her healing spells are far more effective than mine.”

He nodded. “When you guys make camp tonight I'm sure you can try to talk to Alistair again. Once he understands that I've taken vows and that nothing happened between us other than talking I'm sure he'll understand and forgive you.”

I wished I had his confidence.

 

The two of us knocked on Kester’s door and his wife answered.

“Well, aren’t the two of you are up early this morning.” Then she paused. “Cullen? Young Cullen from Kinloch? I didn't recognize you! My goodness, what happened to your face?”

“Just a minor accident. Don't worry about it, ma'am. Is Kester available? We need to get the boat across to the Tower.”

“Why, he's just up having his breakfast. He'll be able to take you across shortly. I'll have him come out when he's ready.” She then shut the door.

So Cullen and I walked back over to the tavern and sat down on the bench outside.

“So how did you get from the Tower to here last night?” I asked. “Kester had already retired for the evening.”

“I poled myself across. I'm not very good at it which is why it took me so long to get there last night. This is why I'd rather rely on Kester to get us across this morning.”

“It may have taken you a while to get across but your timing was perfect, I chuckled. You got there right as those men were starting to pester me.”

About ten minutes later, Kester walked out of his home. “Are you both ready?” he asked. “If so, let's get on down to me boat.”

As we walked down to the dock, I asked Cullen to let me look at his face again. He removed the chunk of ice. The swelling wasn't so bad on his nose, but the gash on his lip looked pretty awful. I winced. “We definitely need to get Wynne to look at that,” I said. “It may leave a scar.”

Cullen tossed the chunk of ice into the lake. “Well,” he chuckled, “maybe it'll make me look tougher.”

 

Once we were across, we walked into the tower together. Greagoir was not happy that Cullen was not in uniform.

“So where were you last night?” Greagoir demanded.

“I am sorry ser, I just needed to help Warden Kylara. I will go get ready now.” Cullen left me standing in the entrance hall. Several minutes later he returned in his full plate armor.

“Knight Commander ser,” I asked, “where are the rest of my companions?”

“They should be having breakfast right now. Cullen? Go ahead and escort her up there. We will talk later about your insubordination.”

“Insubordination? But ser, I was off duty last night…”

“I said we will discuss it later.”

Cullen stared at the ground. “Yes ser, I understand ser.” He then bade me to follow him. We walked together through the hallway and towards the dining room.

“I'm sorry Cullen, I didn't mean to get you in trouble. Do you want me to talk to Knight-Commander Greagoir about it? Perhaps I can explain…”

“Maybe? I'm not sure if that might make things better or worse, to be honest.”

We went into the dining room where I saw the group eating. I approached Wynne.

She got up as I approached. “Oh, Kylara! Your back. Are you all right? Have you seen Alistair yet this morning? He left very early… I assumed to go and see you.”

“Yes Wynne, I did see him this morning. I'll tell you all about it in just a minute. But for the moment could you take a look at Cullen's lip and nose, please? He met with a slight accident.”

Wynne examined Cullen’s face. “Oh, oh my! This doesn't look good! What happened?” she asked him.

“Nothing much, ma’am. Just a misunderstanding.”

“I managed to stop the bleeding,” I told Wynne, “but I'm worried about that cut. I also had him put ice on it to keep the swelling down.”

“It is good that you put some ice on it, but he will most likely still have a bruise on his nose for several days. I do have a salve he can put onto the cut which should minimize it somewhat, but yes, that's going to leave a scar. Just wait here for a moment,” she said. She left the dining area and headed to her room. A moment later she came back down and opened up a jar. “Now this may sting a little,” she said.

Cullen winced as the salve was applied to his face.

“I will leave this with you. Please apply it twice daily to the cut.”

“Yes, ma'am.” He took the salve and tucked it into a small leather pouch that was attached to the side of his armor. Then he turned to face me.

“I really must go now, Kylara. I need to check back in with my Knight-Commander and make sure I don't get into any further trouble.”

I stared at the ground. “I really am sorry Cullen. I didn't mean for this to happen.”

“Don't apologize. It's not your fault.” He turned to Wynne. Thank you again, ma'am, for the medicine for my face.” He bowed to us, then turned and left.

I sat down at the table and got myself a plate of eggs and sausages. Everyone in the group seemed to be staring at me though. I looked up at them and said, “Let me go ahead and have something to eat please I promise I will tell you everything that happened.”

 

After everyone had packed up their belongings, we all met in the main hall. I went over briefly to Knight-Commander Greagoir.

“Please, ser,” I whispered quietly, “do not be too hard on Cullen. I asked him to stay last night. I needed the help.”

He gave a curt nod of his head. “We will see. Thank you for telling me this.”

After saying our farewells to First Enchanter Irving, we all left the tower. Kester took half of the group in his boat, while Carroll took the rest across the lake in another boat. We hitched the mule to the cart and everybody got their horses out of the stable.

Before I mounted up, Wynne and Morrigan both pulled me aside. I saw Leliana edge closer to me to apparently listen in.

“So what happened last night?” Morrigan asked.

I briefly explained to them the events of last night and what ended up happening this morning. Wynne was shocked. I saw the same look on Leliana’s face.

“It was Alastair? He's the one that punched Cullen in the face?”

“Yes, Wynne. He misunderstood what had happened between Cullen and me last night. He also did not give me a chance to explain. He decided to ride on ahead. Once we meet up with him, I hope to explain the truth to him.”

Leliana walked over. “I know I shouldn’t have listened in, but it’s a habit. Did I hear this right, Kylara? Alistair thought you’d slept with Cullen and then he punched him?”

I nodded.

“Do you want me to hex him when we meet up with him tonight?” Morrigan asked. “I'm more than willing to under the circumstances.”

“No, Morrigan. I need to explain what happened. We just talked. Cullen… he’s chaste. He took vows before he became a Templar… and Alistair should know this! After all, Alistair told me he was recruited by Duncan just before he himself was to take vows! As for our other argument, well, we were both acting dumb. We both said things to each other that were stupid and petty. Whether or not he forgives me will still be up to him.”

“You certainly are more understanding that I would be now,” Leliana said thoughtfully.

“So how much does the rest of the group know?” I asked Wynne.

“They know that something happened between the two of you and that you're apart right now,” Wynne said softly. “I didn't want to go into too much detail last night with them. When we break for camp tonight if you wish to explain I'll leave it up to you.”

 

It was a rather quiet journey for all of us as we left the tower and headed east from the Tower along the road. Around mid-afternoon, we came across Alistair. He had been waiting off the road by a creek. As we silently rode past him, he joined our procession. I was still a bit angry at him punching Cullen, but for the most part, I wanted us to move on from this. He didn't look at me at all, which hurt more than I thought it would, but instead turned and spoke to Wynne.

“I figure we'll go ahead and head towards West Hill. It's a small town about one more day from here. We can get another tent and some more supplies.

Wynne merely nodded.

Not much was said between the group as we continued on our journey. I rode my horse near the cart, while Alistair had moved to the back of the group. There was no playful party banter between anyone.

That evening when we broke for camp, I pulled Alistair aside to talk, while Wynne fixed our evening meal.

“Alistair? We need to talk. I want to explain what you saw this morning.”

“What's to explain?” he replied gruffly. “I know you already had a relationship with Cullen once before. What was to stop you from rekindling it since we aren’t together?”

“We didn't have a relationship, Alistair! Cullen and I were friends, that’s it!” I put my hand lightly on his arm. “He's taken vows for Maker's sake! All we did was talk last night.”

He pulled his arm away from my touch, pain on his face. “And yet the two of you were holding hands and grinning stupidly at each other this morning. That didn't seem to me like the two of you were ‘just talking’.”

“What do you want me to do Alastair? Swear on Duncan's name that nothing happened between Cullen and I last night?”

He stopped and stared at me for a moment. “I don't know,” he muttered. “Right now I'm just too confused. I think it's just better if we don't speak anymore tonight. I will… think about what you said. But I can't promise anything further than that right now.” He turned and walked away from me.

 

During our evening meal, no one sat by Alistair. I was only giving him the space he’d requested, but now the rest of the group were treating him like a pariah. Even Winston was staying by us. I leaned over to Leliana. “Did you tell the rest of the group what happened between Alistair and me?”

“I **might** have mentioned some things to Zevran…” she said softly.

I then looked at Zevran.

“I only told Oghren what Leli told me,” he said.

Then I looked at Oghren, who was drinking from his flask. “And I suppose you told Sten?” I asked him.

“Nope.” He belched.

“No?”

“I told Sten,” Shayle spoke softly. “After all, I was there when it happened.”

“Ah,” I replied.

“He did not act with honor,” Sten said with a frown as he glanced at Alistair. “Not to you, or to this… Cullen.”

Alistair was far enough away that he couldn’t hear us, but it was clear from his expression that he knew we were talking about him.

He slowly stood up. “Okay, so I’m clearly an outcast now… but I don’t appreciate being gossiped about when I’m here! You could have at least had the decency to wait until I wasn’t around!” He threw the remainder of his food onto the fire and stalked off.

I wanted to follow him, but Morrigan stopped me.

“Leave him be.”

“But…” I glanced at everyone else. They all shook their heads. I sighed.

 

After our evening meal, there was a problem of who was going to sleep where. I glanced over at Alistair, but without any word, he grabbed his bedroll off the cart and walked off again into the darkness. Wynne came up to me, her own bedroll in her arms.

“Leliana and Zevran are sharing again,” she told me softly, “and it is a bit too chilly tonight for me to sleep in the open. Would you mind I share with you tonight?”

I was still staring off into the distance where Alistair had disappeared. My heart was aching to go after him, but my feet wouldn’t move. I sighed. “It is fine Wynne, we can bunk together. I-I’m sure Alistair will be… fine… out there. Alone.”

“Look, it will take time. You are both young.” She put her arms around me and pulled me into a gentle hug. “You aren’t the first couple that has had a misunderstanding between them, and you won’t be the last. The two of you will eventually work it out, I’m sure.” She crawled into the tent. “Come now, let us all get some sleep.”

I nodded and followed her into the tent.

 

I couldn’t sleep. While Wynne was snoring lightly, I tossed and turned. Finally, I could no longer take it. I sat up, undid the ties for the tent flaps, and then walked outside. Judging by Satina’s position in the sky, I figured about half of the night had passed. _Maybe a walk will help clear my head,_ I thought.

Winston got up from where he’d been sleeping and started following me. “No, Winston. You stay here.”

He whined.

“I’ll be fine. Stay.”

He lay back down, but his eyes looked sad.

“No, puppy-dog eyes now. I’m just… going for a walk.”

He whined again as I set off through the field where we had set up camp and followed a ridge that overlooked a small valley. I could see deer and squirrels down below. Some were eating, some were sleeping. An owl flew overhead, startling me briefly. Then I stopped abruptly. Ahead in the distance, I could see Alistair. He wasn’t sleeping. Instead, he was sitting on an outcropping of rock staring off into the distance.

 

I approached him slowly and then said his name softly so as not to startle him.

He turned at the sound of his name and saw me. “Oh, it’s you.” He turned away again, staring at nothing.

I stopped a few meters away. “You can’t sleep?” I asked.

“No.”

“Me neither.”

“What do you want, Kylara?” he asked with a sigh.

“Alistair, can’t we talk? Please?”

“About what?”

“About what happened. About… us,” I said softly.

“There is no ‘us’ now… is there?” he replied bitterly.

“There could be… if you want it.”

“Why?” He picked up a small rock and chucked it into the valley below.

“B-because… I… love you. And… I think you still love me too.”

“Rather presumptuous of you, don’t you think?”

I winced at that. “You think I don’t know what you’re trying to do here?”

“Oh?” he said darkly as he glanced at me. “And what, pray tell, am I doing?”

“You’re trying to drive me away because you think we have no future together. But I am here to tell you that you are wrong. You and I are two very different people, but it is our differences that make us stronger together as a whole. Yes, you will probably be King. Yes, I am only a commoner and a mage. But we are both Grey Wardens. The **last** Grey Wardens in Ferelden. We have that as our common bond.”

“But how does that let us stay together once our duty as Wardens is finished… assuming neither one of us gets killed before the end, that is.”

“We both know that eventually, we will have to face… the Calling… someday. I’d rather stay close to you, knowing that it is something we both have to face, rather than go at it alone.” He remained silent, so I continued. “Whether we only stay friends, or become lovers again…” He had an interesting look on his face when I said that. I swallowed the lump I had in my throat. “I just want to stay by your side, Alistair Theirin. For as long as we have together.”

More silence passed. I slowly approached where he was sitting and knelt behind him.

“We have a bond, you and I. Why else would we have found those crystals? Crystals that react to our emotional being? Surely you must have noticed that they have gone dark and cold because of what happened between us?”

“Yes,” he replied softly. “I know.”

“So I think the first thing we need to do, to repair the damage… is to forgive each other. I will go first.” I took a deep breath and then said, “Alistair, I am sorry that I cast a paralyze spell on you at Ostagar. I was only wanting to help you through your pain, but I went about it the wrong way. I am also sorry that I said you were stupid and foolish. You most definitely are not. You are noble, brave, and strong, especially given your entire past. If you do become the next King of Ferelden, you will be an incredible one, I know it.”

I felt a tingle of warmth on my chest, where the crystal necklace rested. It was still dark, but that small bit of magic I felt gave me hope. I placed my arms around Alistair tenderly. When he didn’t pull away, it also gave me strength.

I felt him sigh and then he said, “I too, am sorry about how I reacted at Ostagar. I shouldn’t have used my Templar ability on you, leaving you there alone and helpless. I am also sorry about the things I said to you once we were back at Lake Calenhad Docks. You have been absolutely incredible since your Joining… never once complaining, always showing strength in times of crises. Lothering, the Circle, Redcliffe, the Urn, the Deep Roads, and… Ostagar. I couldn’t have asked for a better person than you to be at my side for all we’ve been through… and all we have yet to face.

“I am sorry too, for my overreaction to you and Cullen. You are right. I should have known about his vows. When we get to West Hill, I will send him an apology letter.” He was quiet for a moment after, then said, “My crystal feels warmer. That is a good thing, right?”

“It’s a start,” I hugged him a little tighter and I felt him squeeze me back. “It is definitely a good start.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 28 I know a lot of other FanFics had Alistair and Cullen attending the same Templar training (which I love!) But when I started this, I hadn’t thought about that possibility… So Cullen does not know Alistair here.


	29. West Hill and Soldier's Peak (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylara thought that she and Alistair were going to be together again, but to her surprise, he still keeps her at a distance. After a short stay in West Hill, they meet a young man, who tells them of an old abandoned Grey Warden base to the east. Kylara and the rest decide to investigate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** Mature Content Ahead **

Alistair and I spent the rest of the night sitting side by side on the rock and talking lightly. We spoke about everything and nothing in particular, but it felt like things were getting more or less back to normal for us. When the sun finally began to rise, we both got up from the rock. Hand in hand we walked back to camp.

Leliana, Zevran, and Morrigan were already up and packing. When they saw us, Zevran seemed surprised, Leliana pleased. Morrigan’s expression was unusual. On one side, she looked slightly happy for me, but she also looked somewhat angry… and sad.

Leliana strolled over to us. “So, seems the two of you have kissed and made up?”

I was surprised when Alistair suddenly dropped my hand and turned scarlet. “Well… we talked about it. That’s all.” He then quickly walked off to put his bedroll away.

“Kylara? Everything all right?” Leliana seemed baffled by whatever expression I had on my face.

“I… uh, I thought he… that we…” I shook my head and mumbled. “Never mind.” I then headed to the tent I had shared with Wynne. But before I got too far away, I overheard Zevran say to Leliana, “Perhaps all is not quite well yet with the lovebirds?”

As I helped Wynne get ready and packed, I noticed Alistair continuing to avoid me. After last night, I was sure things had been getting back on the right path for us, but now, his current behavior was getting me all confounded again.

Finally, there was a brief lull in activity as everyone nibbled on travel rations for breakfast. Alistair was off to the side of the group, so I approached him tentatively. When he saw me, he gave a smile.

“What’s with the odd look on your face?” he asked. “Come on now and finish eating! We should make it to West Hill by early this afternoon.”

My confusion grew. Now he was being friendly again? It was like I was suddenly dealing with two versions of the same person. “T-that’s good to hear,” I finally managed to say. I then turned and walked off. A moment later I heard him run to catch up to me.

“What’s wrong, Kylara?”

 _He didn’t call me ‘love’_ , I thought, and my heart filled with sadness.

“I… I-I don’t know,” I fumbled. “ I just thought… after last night…” I sighed. “I thought things were going back to… normal for us. But then you ignored me. And now you’re being nice again. I… don’t understand.”

His face fell somewhat. “Ah. Well, truth is… I am still hesitant… about us. I think it’s just best if we are only friends…”

“Even after all we’ve done together intimately?” I said, perhaps a little bluntly. “After the way you’ve made me feel?”

Alistair chewed on his lip. “I know things will be… awkward for awhile. But I… I just don’t think… we can go back to the way things were. I am still very unsure about our… future… right now.” He saw the hurt look on my face. “Please, Kylara. I want to stay friends. I really do. Can’t you try that… for me? For us?”

_Friends._

_After knowing how his lips felt and tasted?_

_Friends._

_After knowing how good he made me feel when he touched me intimately?_

_Friends._

_After knowing what it felt like having him inside me, hearing him_ _moan_ _out my name as he came?_

 _**Friends**_ _._

_I wanted to cry, but if the alternative was not having him at all?_

I gave him a weak smile. “Sure. Friends. I can do that.”

He beamed. “Great! Come on now, let’s get going.”

 

Several moments later we were all mounted up and heading north along the road to get to the town of West Hill. Alistair, seemingly having been forgiven by everyone (perhaps the only exception being Morrigan), was in the lead. Even though he had wanted me to ride near him, I politely declined, saying that I needed to speak with Leliana. Alistair shrugged and gave me another smile.

In reality, I did want to speak to Leliana about my situation with him. I had no idea if she’s ever had something similar happen to her, but figured she might have some advice.

“So, you wanted to speak with me?” she asked quietly.

“Yes.”

“Is this about you and Alistair?”

I nodded and spoke softly. “You know that we’ve been… intimate…” I blushed, but she just gave me a gentle smile. “So even though we’ve forgiven each other for everything that has happened over the last few days… he says he only wants to be friends now! I mean, we were last together in that way about five days ago! How can I go back to just being **friends** after knowing him intimately?! How **good** he made me feel…”

“I know the two of you both have an uncertain future,” Leliana began, “and he is not only feeling the pressure of becoming King, but he has the duty kill the archdemon so the Blight can be ended… That is a lot for one man to deal with. All we can do is support him and help to ease that burden. You in particular. You will be the one who helps him more than all of us combined.”

“But, again… how? When he wants to only be my friend?” I said with a sour look on my face.

“Oh, no dear. Believe me, when I say, you are not the only one who remembers the intimacy you both had. When you weren’t watching, I saw him stare at you this morning with a look of yearning on his face. He’s afraid of what lies ahead… and because of this, he’s trying to suppress his feelings for you now.”

“Again, how does this help me?”

“Oh, Kylara… you are still young, as is Alistair.” She leaned closer to me. “Trust me when I say he will not be able to resist forever. He will try… but eventually, it will come to a…” She gave a clandestine grin. “Forgive the pun here… climax.” She touched my arm and then said, “I truly believe you will be together again. Someday soon.”

“And what do I do in the meantime?”

“Play along with his ‘friendship’ idea. Smile at him, often. Touch him subtle-like. Remind him of what you used to have together – use actions, not words. However, do not get too aggressive, or it may end up having the opposite effect. And here is the best part, ignore him.”

I looked at her strangely, then whispered, “How in the void will that help?!”

“By combining that with the other tactics, he’ll wonder what is going on in that complex female mind of yours. It will intrigue him, though I believe he’ll try to not show it.” She leaned in close to me then. “Also, you know we will help in any way we can. Alistair can try to deny it all he wants, but you both **belong** together.”

“Even if he’s the King?”

“Especially if he’s made King,” she replied.

I sat back in my saddle and contemplated all Leliana had said. I actually began to feel hopeful again.

“Thank you, Leliana. For your advice. For listening to me ramble.” I smiled at her. “Should you ever need me to listen to you, I’ll be available.”

Her face went from happy to serious. She was silent for a moment, then replied, “Thank you, Kylara. I may take you up on that offer.”

 

“Small town?” I said in jest (taking Leliana’s advice from the get-go) to Alistair as we approached the entrance to a town **much** larger than what I had expected. “This place looks almost as big as Denerim!”

He cleared his throat in embarrassment. “Well, it’s not as large now as it was in its prime.” He pointed to the large fortress on a large hill, overlooking the Waking Sea. “That fortress was founded because of its strategic location to spot marauding pirates. The town grew around it. You can see that most of the towers are unmanned now. Same with the fortress. I think it used to hold over a thousand people… Now there are about a hundred here, give or take. Bann Franderel is the current ruler here.”

“Are we going to introduce ourselves to him?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. We don’t know where his loyalties lie right now.”

“Is that why you aren’t wearing your Grey Warden armor?” I asked.

He nodded. “I figured best to keep a low profile for now. Let’s go on in.”

 

After getting all the horses stabled, Alistair and I first headed over to the relay station, where the messenger birds were kept. I decided on two letters to send. The first was to Cullen.

_To my friend Cullen,_

_I hope this letter finds you well. We have arrived in West Hill for a short stop-over on our way to Denerim. Alistair and I have apologized to each other and we are working together again. However, the main reason for this letter was I remember you telling me a while back when I was still living at the Tower, that you have family in Honnleath? I really should have brought it up earlier, but with everything that happened recently… The Blight has been coming from the south! I really hope you were able to get a message to them, so they were able to evacuate before the Blight came. Please let me know as soon as you are able. I think you can send your reply to Denerim, as we should be there in about a week… week and a half?_

_With love, your friend, Kylara Amell_

_P.S. Hello Cullen, this is Alistair. I really want to apologize for my actions against you, when you were only helping my friend. There was no excuse for my abhorrent behavior and I am truly sorry for acting like such an ass. I hope you will forgive me… in time._

 

The second letter was to Teagan.

_Dear Teagan,_

_Apologies that I have been unable to send news until now. After a rather long, extended (and dare I say, damn near exhausting) stay in Orzammar, Alistair and I are happy to report that we were finally successful in getting a new dwarven King on the throne. His name is Pyral Harrowmont and he has agreed to send us troops when we are ready to face the archdemon._

_From there, we traveled back to the Circle Tower for a short visit. We did also make a journey back down to Ostagar (via a travel spell, thanks to First Enchanter Irving) and are also pleased to report that yours and Eamon’s nephew, good King Cailan, has been taken care of. We retrieved all of his armor, King Maric’s sword, and the Orleasian documents from the royal arms chest. We set up a pyre and have sent his soul to the Maker. Alistair will be bringing some of the ashes for Eamon to bring to Denerim, so that we may have a proper funeral for him then._

_We are currently in West Hill but will be leaving for Denerim tomorrow. I will send word from there once we arrive._

_Sincerely, Kylara Amell_

 

After the letters were finished, I paid the gold necessary and we left. From there we went over to the Chantry to see if anyone needed assistance in town (I figured no matter where the bann’s loyalties were at, doing a few good deeds and planting some whispers around town certainly couldn’t hurt…). Leliana went to the local inn/tavern – the Wolf’s Howl – to book us all rooms. She gave me a co-conspiratorial wink, which fortunately Alistair did not notice.

As it turned out, there were several duties on the Chantry board. Alistair went to help an elderly farmer repair his barn, Sten, Oghren, and Zevran went out to take care of an underground smuggler’s ring that had been last seen on the coast. Wynne went to help mend some sails for some of the local fisherman’s boats. Morrigan (not as willingly) went to help the apothecary brew some healing potions. After taking care of our room reservations, Leliana went to Chantry to sing and tell stories to some orphaned children. Winston was even ‘hired’ for help. Another local farmer was shearing sheep and Winston helped by keeping the sheep from bolting. This left myself and Shayle with not much to do. I wandered around town taking care of buying supplies and a new tent, while Shayle just grumbled about the number of seagulls flying overhead.

“I swear if one of those foul vermin swoops anywhere close to me again, I will not stop until every last one is exterminated,” she groused.

“Yes. Swooping is… bad,” I said to myself, with a slight smile. Then I spoke louder for Shaye to hear. “Perhaps you can take some of your bird-rage and go closer to the docks and keep the birds away from the fishermen as they clean and prepare their catches?”

“It wants me to get **closer** to them?” Shayle gave me an incredulous look. I just stared right back. “Fine,” she growled. “But if I get one drop of bird shit on me…” She stomped off towards the docks.

It was early evening by the time everyone was wrapping up. Sten, Zevran, and Oghren were the first back, and from the looks of them, the smugglers had not surrendered peacefully.

“There is a bathhouse here,” I said, “But I think you might want to rinse yourselves off beforehand?”

Zevran winked, “Yes. Don’t think they’d appreciate us in their tavern in our current state. Taking care of those murderous brigands was… shall we say, somewhat messy work, yes?”

“Here are some towels I bought today. There is a well out back. Come on into the tavern afterwards and we’ll eat.”

“Sounds good there Warden.” Oghren grinned and held up a few jugs. “Take a lookee here, too! Pirate grog! Can’t wait to sample some!”

I sighed. _Give that dwarf any excuse to drink…_

Morrigan and Wynne appeared next. They nodded as they passed me and headed into the Wolf’s Howl. After them, Shayle came up to me.

“No troubles with the birds at the docks?” I asked.

“Lucky for it, no. The fishermen seemed pleased about that too.” The corner of her stone mouth twisted into something like a smile. “I will go and sit by the cart for the night.”

“Thanks, Shayle. Have a good night.”

She nodded once and then walked off into the dark.

Leliana and Winston walked up. “I picked him up from the sheep farmer. He says your dog did such a good job that he’s ahead of schedule. Though he wants to know if Winston can come back tomorrow for more help?”

“Well, I don’t think we were planning on staying here long, but I suppose one more day might not hurt.”

“His wife also gave us some yarn that she spins from the wool. Do you know how to knit?” she asked.

“I don’t, but I think Wynne does. We can give it to her.”

She nodded. I then saw Alistair finally coming towards the inn looking hot, sweaty, and exhausted. I turned, handed him a towel, and said coolly, “The well is in the back. We’ll be inside eating. Join us when you’re able.” I then smiled sweetly and walked away, but not before I caught the strange look on Alistair’s face.

Several minutes later, he walked in with Oghren, Zev, and Sten. I waved him over to the table I was sitting at. He walked towards me slowly, still looking a bit confused, and sat down. I smiled and poured him a pint of ale from the pitcher on the table.

“Thanks,” he said quietly. “You’re not having any?”

“Not tonight.”

“Ah.” Some awkward silence passed, then he asked, “So… um, what are your plans for later?”

“Oh, I’ll be taking a bath. They have a large, heated bathhouse here.”

I saw him gulp. “T-they do?”

“Mm-hm. Behind then inn.” I paused, then said softly. “Perhaps you’ll want to take one too? I’m sure that well water was cold…”

“Uh… yeah. It was.”

Just then the food was brought out. As the bowls of stew were set in front of us, I said, “Hope you don’t mind that I ordered for you, but I wasn’t sure how long you might be.”

“No, that’s… fine.” He ate quietly, so I did the same. I ended up finishing first, as Alistair was still nursing his pint of ale.

I got up from the table and lightly touched his shoulder. “See you later, perhaps?”

He just gave a nod of his head.

 

After going to the room he had been assigned and retrieved his soap from his pack, He got undressed down to his braies and then wrapped the towel around his lean hips. Then he took the soap and went out the back door of the inn. Just as I had told him, the bathhouse was right there. It was a large stone building that had two entrances. Steam was coming from some high open windows. It looked very inviting. Alistair then saw Sten and Zevran leaving out of the entrance on the left, both with towels around their waists.

“Ah, looks like you’ll be bathing alone there, friend Alistair. We just finished.”

“Where is Oghren?” he asked.

Zevran smirked. “Still in the tavern drinking that stuff he found in the smuggler’s cave today. Doubtful he’s going anywhere else tonight.”

“And Ky- um, I mean, the girls?”

Zevran grinned. “Haven’t seen them yet. Pity that too. Would have made the bath more… interesting.”

Alistair nodded and then headed in. The first thing he noticed was that despite the two doors, the bathhouse interior was one large room with six huge stone tubs on each side. There was a wall in the middle of the room, separating the men’s side from the women’s side, but his tall 192 cm frame easily allowed him to see over the wall to the other side. Zevran had been right. The female side of the bath was empty. He sighed.

On the men’s side, there were only two of the six tubs that were filled with hot water. Alistair chose the one where the water looked cleaner. After removing the towel and his braies, he stepped into the soothing hot water. All that hard work he’d done this afternoon had exhausted him. He sighed and leaned back, the water relaxing his tired muscles.

He must have dozed off for a moment, because the next thing he knew, there was female laughter coming closer to the bathhouse.

 _Shit!_ _If I leave now, they’ll see me,_ he thought. _Guess I’ll just stay here and keep quiet. I can leave after they are gone._

 

Leliana, Morrigan, and I walked into the bathhouse.

“Oh, this looks wonderful,” Leliana gushed. “So, do we all share one tub, or bathe separately?”

“I’m fine with bathing together,” I giggled. “It’s not like I haven’t seen a naked woman before!”

 

On the other side of the wall, Alistair gulped. He could feel the blood immediately rushing to his groin and it took all his self-control to not want to start touching himself. He held his breath and waited.

 

A small mouse ran down the rough stone wall and over to the tub that Leliana and I were now sharing. There was a shimmer, and then Morrigan was kneeling beside me. “’Tis as you suspected,” she whispered. “Alistair is on the other side.” She sighed and then mumbled, “Thankfully, I didn’t have to stare at his naked form.”

“And what’s wrong with his naked form?” Leliana whispered back. “He is quite handsome I think.” I nodded in agreement.

“Fine,” she huffed. “Yes, he is… pleasant to look at. But that certainly doesn’t excuse his other shortcomings in my opinion.” She turned to me and whispered, “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

I nodded again and murmured, “I… love him Morrigan. I truly do.”

“I know he loves her too,” Leliana said very quietly. “We just need to remind him of what he has lost…”

“Very well. I’ll leave you both to it then.” She stood and walked out of the bathhouse.

Leliana gave me a smile and whispered, “Ready?”

I grinned right back.

 

 _Why is it so quiet over there all of a sudden?_ Alistair wondered. Thankfully the quiet had helped his body to relax somewhat. _What could they be doing over there?_ Then he heard a moan and the blood went straight back to his dick.

 

“You are really okay doing this, Kylara?” Leliana whispered again. “I… don’t want to make **you** uncomfortable.”

“If you really think this will help me potentially get him back…”

“In my past experience with men, there is something about two women together that just sets their brains to mush…” she giggled. She began massaging my back, her strong hands working out the knots. I moaned it was so heavenly!

 

 _Oh Maker, what is going over there?!_ Alistair’s eyes grew wide with each new moan he heard. _I really shouldn’t be so curious… but I want… no, I_ _ **need**_ _to find out what is going on over there!_ His curiosity spiked even further when the moans turned to giggles.

 

“Oh, Leliana!” I cried out. She was really getting out the deep knots in my back. “You’re so strong, that feels **so** wonderful!”

“You think that is nice, then perhaps I should try this?” she began tickling me. I burst out with laughter.

“No, no! Oh, Maker, please! NO tickling!” I giggled helplessly.

 

Alistair slowly got out of the tub, making as little noise and disturbance as possible. He wrapped his towel around his waist, which was somewhat difficult given the size of his current erection, and then crept quietly to the very back of the bathhouse. He cautiously peered over the wall. What he saw just then made him want to rip the towel off for relief…

 

“No tickling? Well then, shall I try… this?” She turned me around. She cupped her wet hands on my face and gently kissed me.

At first, I was slightly hesitant, as I had never had another woman kiss me. But then I noticed from the corner of my eye that Alistair was indeed peering over the wall. I pulled back slightly and gave a brief nod of my head to Leliana. She smiled knowingly and began kissing me again, her tongue seeking mine now. I gave in to it.

 

Alistair gulped as he watched Leliana kissing Kylara. He groaned quietly as he saw Leliana’s small pale freckled breasts with their pert pink tips brush up against Kylara’s more robust breasts. His right hand pulled off his towel, letting it drop to the floor. _Maker preserve me… but I can’t take it anymore!_ He grabbed his cock and slowly began stroking. His eyes closed in bliss as the sweet female moans continued…

 

A sudden new voice abruptly had Leliana and I pull apart with a scream. Alistair immediately ducked back down behind the wall.

“Saaaayyy… Wuzz goin’ on in ‘ere?” Oghren mumbled as he staggered into the female side of the bathhouse, one hand still carrying a jug of whatever he’d found in the smuggler’s den. His bleary eyes suddenly focused. “Ooowee! Lookie here! Nekkid ladies!”

“Get out of here, Oghren!” I yelled. “You don’t belong in here!”

“For shame, Oghren!” Leliana frowned. “Where are your manners!” She quickly grabbed our towels so we could cover ourselves. We quickly got out of the bath and stalked out.

“Waaiiitt… don’ leave…” he slurred. He tried to come after us, but tripped, sprawled out on the ground, and passed out.

 

A moment later, Alistair came out of the men’s side of the bath. He peered around at corner at Oghren and scowled. “Thanks a lot.”

He then headed back to the inn, leaving Oghren snoring on the ground.

 

Alistair walked into his room at the inn. When he opened the door he was stunned and surprised to see me standing there unpacking my stuff. He almost dropped the towel from around his waist.

“What are you doing in my room?” he asked.

“Your room? No, this is my room. This is what Liliana booked for me today.”

 _Oh, that is just great,_ he thought. _Leliana is trying to play matchmaker for us._ _Trying to get us back together!_

“What is wrong with us sharing tonight? I asked. It's not like we are strangers, Alistair!”

“But, we can’t… I mean… Look, I…” he swallowed nervously. “This is really awkward,” he mumbled.

I frowned. “It’s only awkward because you are making it so,” I scolded him. Even though it hurt me to say it, I continued. “Alistair we are both adults… and even though you don't want us to be together right now…” _for whatever your reasoning is,_ I thought bitterly. “I am sure the two of us can share a room tonight.”

He signed. “I suppose you are right. But I will leave you to get dressed for bed.”

“Really, Alistair? You've seen me in far less than a towel.” To make my point, I dropped it from my body and stood naked in front of him.

“Maker's breath, Kylara!” He quickly turned around to face the wall, his face burning, as he tried to conceal his growing erection. A few moments passed and he cautiously turned back around. To his relief, I was wearing a long nightshirt now.

I was cross. _Really taking this ‘just friends’ thing a bit too far, aren’t we? “_ So now what?” I asked. “I suppose now you’re telling me you are going to sleep on the floor?”

“Yes,” he mumbled.

“Really? You are going to be this immature about it?” I knew I was going against Leliana’s advice, but I was really frustrated. “Fine, I said. I'll see if there is another room.” I walked out.

A few minutes passed and I returned. Alistair was now dressed in a pair of thin linen breeches. He had his bedroll spread out on the floor.

“No other rooms, I take it?” He asked softly.

“No. They are booked solid. Our group alone is taking up half the rooms. The others are from refugees fleeing the Blight.” I sighed. “Really, Alistair? Do you **have** to sleep on the floor?”

He closed his eyes briefly. “I… am sorry, Kylara. I know we had more together… but I am just so… uncertain about things right now.”

“Fine,” I groused. I sat on the bed as he settled down on the floor. I then blew out the candle that had been lighting up the room. “Goodnight, Alistair.”

I heard a long sigh from the floor. “Goodnight, Kylara.”

 

Sometime during the night, I heard muffled groans coming from Alistair down on the floor. _What now?_ I thought. I sat up quietly and moved closer to the foot of the bed and cautiously peered over. Alistair had his face buried in his pillow trying to muffle the noises he was making… or so I thought. As it turned out, he was asleep, but apparently having a very sexy dream. He was laying on his stomach and – there was no other way to describe it – he was grinding his hips and cock against his bedroll!

_Perhaps Leli and I teased him a bit too far tonight? And then, of course, Oghren had to come and ruin it all!_

While there was a part of me that wanted to enjoy and watch this erotic moment ( _by the void, I wanted to join him)_ , I knew that he'd wake up mortified, knowing I had seen him like this. But how could I wake him without him knowing I’d seen in the first place? Then it came to me. I could have a dream of my own… One that would spare him the embarrassment. But I have to act quickly. From the sounds that were clearly growing louder, he was getting close.

I lay back on the bed and twisted the covers around my torso. I quickly grabbed a nearby glass of water and splashed a little on myself to make it look like I was sweaty. Then I lay back, took a deep breath, and screamed.

 

Alistair instantly woke. The remnants of his dream faded quickly, though his cock took a bit longer to calm down. His face was red with humiliation. _Did she see? Did she know?_ Then he heard me crying and he got up.

“Kylara? Are you okay?” he asked as he sat on the bed. “What was it? Darkspawn nightmare again?”

“You'd think I’d be used to them by now,” I simpered. _Please let him believe me…_

He took my hand. “You know you are not alone in this. I still get them too. Do you want to talk about it with me?”

 _Got to make something up, quickly! Something truly awful…_ Then I remembered the one that I had had when we had been in the Deep Roads. It had been so nightmarish, I hadn’t told Alistair of it. _“_ I-I dreamed that I had been captured by them! That they were going to do to me what they did to Laryn!” I shivered, actually remembering that horrible vision.

“Oh, Kylara,” he murmured. “I'd never let that happen to you! I would die to protect you from that kind of fate.”

When I realized he was being serious about that, I shook my head. “No, Alistair. You **must** live. I’m expendable! You are not! Just promise me that if something like that ever does happen to me, that you'd kill me before I… change.”

“Expendable?! H-how could you say that about yourself! Just because I’ve got some piss-ant nobles wanting to put the crown on my head, that makes me more valuable than you?! No! You are **just** as important as I am!”

He sat there staring at me for a moment. Then the whole dynamic shifted for us. Perhaps it was the remnants of his erotic dream or remembering me in the bathhouse with Leliana, as I saw his pupils dilate; his eyes suddenly flash golden.

“Alistair, I - ”

I couldn’t speak any further, because, at that moment, his lips came crashing down against mine. His breath was hot against my face; his tongue probing. I eagerly opened my mouth and welcomed his deep kiss, moaning in pleasure. I pulled him closer.

His lips left mine and he began kissing his way down my neck. One hand grasped my breast through my nightshirt and I head him groan as he felt my nipple peaking against the thin cloth. He rubbed his thumb across it and then closed his mouth around it, licking it through my nightshirt.

I cried out in pleasure. He quickly moved the rest of himself onto the bed with me, never ceasing his kisses, his touches.

I opened myself for him and he slid in between my legs, breeches still annoyingly on, but I didn’t want to snap him out of whatever had come over him. His hard length brushed against my sex and I just barely whispered out, “More…”

He obliged and began moving faster against me. “Fuck…” he groaned and he brought his mouth back to mine, drowning out my whimpers.

I trailed my hands down his bare back, my nails lightly scratching. I heard him hiss in a breath before he resumed his devouring kisses. Then my hands grabbed his ass and I began guiding him to move harder… faster… my orgasm rapidly approaching.

All too soon I cried out in ecstasy. He in turn suddenly reached his own peak. “Ah! Fuck, yes!” he cried out. I could feel the warmth of his seed spreading out across the front of his breeches. He then collapsed on top of me, panting heavily.

I gently stroked his back and felt him shudder as a slight aftershock hit him. I wished it had been the real thing, but at this point, I was just happy to get any kind of affection from him again. “Mmm, Alistair… that was wonderful,” I sighed.

I heard him suddenly gasp and he pulled himself abruptly away from my embrace. He moved into a kneeling position and covered his mouth with his hand. He mumbled something, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, getting worried.

“… shouldn’t have… I shouldn’t have… Oh, Maker, what the fuck is wrong with me!” He scrambled off of the bed.

“Alistair, what? You think I didn’t just enjoy that?”

His eyes got huge and fear filled his face. “I… I need to leave. Yes, now. I need to get out of here… now!” He grabbed his pack and bedroll, opened the door, and left without another word.

 _What in the void? Why did he react that way? I thought I’d made it clear I’d enjoyed myself._ I got out of the bed and ran to the window of my room and opened it. A blast of icy air hit me. I saw him running towards the bathhouse. I called out to him. “Alistair!”

I saw him slow down briefly, but then he shook his head and continued moving further away. I saw him go into the bathhouse. _I suppose I should be glad he’s out of the cold now,_ I thought as I shut the window. _But WHY? Why did he run away from me?_ A sudden angry thought then hit me. _Is this all because if his stupid ‘just friends’ bullshit? He is going to try and deny that he has feelings for me?! After what we just did_ _just now_ _?!_ _He is_ _ **STILL**_ _going to deny us?!_ Hot, angry tears poured from my eyes.

I knew it had only been one day since our apologies to each other. That night I felt as though we’d taken a big step forward in the right direction. Now? Now I felt as though we’d taken a giant leap backwards.

If it was going to continue to be this way for us from now on – how much more would I be able to take?

 

The next morning, the lack of sleep from the night before was clear on my face. Leliana pulled me aside.

“I guess it wasn’t a good idea for me to have put the two of you in the same room last night,” she said sadly. “I’m sorry, Kylara.” She pulled me into a tight hug as I sobbed. “I guess it was too much, too soon.”

I sniffed and nodded. “Especially after what we did last night to him.”

“Shh, it’s all right. We’ll figure something out. For tonight, he and Zevran can share a room. You and I will bunk together.” She lead me to a large table where a breakfast spread had been set up. She poured me a kafija. “Milk and sweetener, yes?” I nodded.

I took the mug from her and sipped the hot liquid, feeling it slightly warm my numb insides. “Have you seen him this morning?” I asked.

“Zevran saw him come out of the bathhouse. He tried to talk with him, but said Alistair just ignored him.”

“Where did he go?”

“Zev said he was fully dressed. He apparently went into the Chantry.” She sighed. “I think it best if we leave him to his own thoughts today. We are leaving here tomorrow, yes?”

“Yes. That farmer wanted to ‘hire’ Winston again, so let’s go and take him over there. I guess we can then see if the Chanter’s board has anything else on it for us to do.”

 

After dropping off Winston, we did see a few more items had been tacked up on the board. So we did what we could and then I ended up retiring back at the inn early. I sat in a chair by the fireplace and pulled out a book to read quietly. Soon, Wynne joined me. She had bought a pair of knitting needles and sat in the chair opposite of me. After taking out the yarn that Leliana had gotten yesterday, she cast on a few stitches and began quietly knitting.

No one had seen Alistair for the entire day, so Leliana and I figured he was still at the Chantry.

“For someone who claims to not be particularly religious, he’s been in there a very long time,” Leliana mused.

“He is really just using it to avoid me for as long as possible,” I replied with a sour tone.

Finally, as the sun was setting, Alistair walked into the tavern. I brought him a plate of food, though part of me was wondering why I was bothering to be nice at this point.

He nodded and quietly said, “Thank you.” Then he sat down at the bar. I sat next to him but kept my distance. Together we ate in silence.

Just before we were getting ready to settle down in our rooms at the Wolf’s Howl again for the night, a man rushed into the building. He looked around frantically and then his eyes settled on Alistair and me. He rushed up to us.

“You two are hard to find!”

Alistair and I glanced briefly at each other, then back at the man. I then asked, “You were looking for… us? Who are you?”

“Ah! Forgive my manners! My name is Levi. Levi Dryden! **2** **9** I had heard whispers from folk around town today that there were Grey Wardens here, and I was hoping to catch you before you left!”

Alistair leaned closer to Levi. “We’ve been helping around town, but also trying to keep our presence quiet.”

“Ah, say no more. I know what you all went through. You see, I knew Duncan.”

“You… knew Duncan?” Alistair was taken aback.

“Sure did! He told me all about you, Alistair. I figured he might have also found other new recruits as well.” Levi grabbed a nearby stool and sat next to us. “Did he ah… ever mention me? Levi of the Coins? Levi the Trader?”

I shook my head, then looked at Alistair, who seemed to be thinking about it. Then he too shook his head. “I’m afraid not,” he said to Levi. “I’ve only been in the Wardens for just over nine months now, and Kylara’s been in for about three.”

“How well did you know Duncan?” I asked.

“Knew him very well! Years! Considered him a true friend, I did.” Levi nodded. “A terrible, terrible thing to lose such a great man.” I saw Alistair sigh in agreement. “But I should really go on and get to my point. You see, before he left to find new recruits for the Wardens, he promised me that he’d help me look into something together. Something important for the Wardens… and for me. I am hoping that I might try and convince you both to help me… in his stead.”

“If I may ask,” Alistair said softly, “how did you come to know Duncan?”

“Quite a tale, that is.” Levi smiled. “You sure you’ve got the time?”

Alistair nodded, and I then said, “I wouldn’t mind hearing it either.”

“Hrmm, how to begin.” Levi paused for a moment and then said, “I assume you are both aware that it was only recently that Grey Wardens were allowed back in Ferelden, yes? Well, I’m the one who brought you all back.”

The look of surprise on both our faces made Levi chuckle.

“I suppose I should clarify that statement just a bit. I am **one** of the ones… there were quite a lot of us actually. You see, After King Maric freed us from the Orleasians, the Grey Wardens from Orlais begged him to allow them back into Ferelden – some sort of internal business. Me and a bunch of other Warden sympathizers spoke on behalf of your Order, especially when Teryn Loghain was very much against letting anything Orleasian in! Even the Grey Wardens!

“But good old Maric, Andraste bless him… He was a fair-minded monarch. He figured that if the Orleasian Wardens needed into Ferelden, they must have had a good reason – problems between our two nations aside. So, he let them in.”

Levi paused his tale for a moment to order a pint for all of us. After the bartender brought the drinks, he took a sip, then gave us a small smile. “Talking is thirsty work. Sorry about that.”

“Go on,” I encouraged.

“Anyways, so that why I was there twenty years ago, when the Wardens and their leader, Genevieve, presented herself to King Maric.”

“And Duncan was there? Was he the only other Grey Warden besides this… Genevieve?”

“Oh, no. There were a few others there… Let me think. There was a dwarf. Her name was… Utha, and an Avvar, Kell Ap Morgan. He and his warhound were a formidable team. There were two other men, Julien and Nicolas, and a pretty little elf mage. Her name was… Fiona, I believe.”

“How old was Duncan back then?” Alistair asked, hungry for knowledge of his old mentor.

“You don’t know?” I questioned him quickly before Levi could answer.

“I spent quite a bit of time with him, but never really thought to ask.” Alistair had a rather embarrassed look on his face.

“Ah, he was a bit of a scamp back then, ol’ Duncan. I figure… eighteen, maybe nineteen? He had just joined the Wardens… Still a fresh recruit and quite the troublemaker!” Levi laughed. “That’s how I met him initially, he stole something off of my cart!” There was a look of shock on Alistair’s face. Levi took another drink and then continued. “Ah, but don’t worry about that! It was a worthless trinket! Still, the guards dragged him back over to return it and apologize. We just started talking and hit it off! Strange how these things kind of happen.

“Anyways, to go on with the tale, whatever Genevieve had said, the King agreed and he went with the Orleasian Wardens on their mysterious business. When he returned, he rescinded old King Arland’s decree and the Wardens were allowed to come back into Ferelden for good.”

I knew of King Arland from my history studies at the Tower, but I hadn’t been aware of his involvement in casting out the Grey Wardens centuries ago. “Why were the Wardens cast out by Arland?” I asked Levi.

“Well, people **say** it’s because the Wardens had become terribly unpopular back in those days. Just soaking up tithes and not doing a bleeding thing for the kingdom.” Levi gave a short, mirthless laugh. “Bollocks, I say. Recent events have shown that your Order was and is needed, especially now!”

“So my fa- ah, Maric rescinded the decree, just like that?” Alistair gave a tiny smile.

“Maric was a bit of a visionary. He was a powerful mind, that one. In his travels with Genevieve, Duncan, and the others, he must’ve seen how important their cause was… and been moved by it.”

“I doubt that is the **whole** story,” I said lightly.

Levi laughed. “Oh, there was also some talk at court that he also did it to help improve relations with Orzammar. That might’ve factored into it as well. Make no mistake. King Maric was a giant among men.”

I saw Alistair’s chest puff up a bit in pride and I had to hide a grin. I quickly took a sip from my own pint and then asked, “So what was it that Duncan had agreed to help you with?”

“Well, you see. My family – the Drydens – our past is a bit… checkered. Nobles look on us with disdain nowadays. We were a noble family ourselves. Had land, titles, all that stuff. My great-great grandmother, Sophia Dryden **30** , was the last Warden-Commander of Ferelden. This was back in the Storm Age – Arland’s day – when the Wardens were considered freeloaders and worthless.” Levi sighed and took a drink from his pint. “So when Arland banished the Wardens, he also took all of House Dryden’s lands and fortunes. Left us with nothing!”

Now I saw Alistair frown a bit since Arland was also of the Theirin bloodline. _Guess the Dryden nobility wasn’t the only one with a ‘checkered past’,_ I thought. “So what happened after that?” I asked.

“Hard to say,” Levi mused. “After Arland died, there was a civil war. Loads worse than the one going on right now. My family was on the run then… hunted by people we had used to call friends! We had nary a person we could trust!” He took another drink. “But we Drydens are a tough lot. We rebuilt. Became merchants. We never lost our pride!”

“I’m surprised you kept your name,” Alistair said quietly.

“Our family’s only real crime was trying to guard the kingdom against any future Blights. We’re not ashamed of that!”

“So how does Duncan fit into all of this?” I asked, wanting to get to the point.

“I asked him for the truth. You see, my family reveres Sophia Dryden. We know she died at the old Grey Warden base here, Soldier’s Peak.”

“The Grey Wardens had another base here?” Alistair asked, astonished. “I thought our only compound was in Denerim.”

“Oh, yes. Quite the place too, from what I’ve heard. Up on a mountain, it is… about five days walk east from here. Anyways, we want to get evidence to clear her name… and subsequently ours. It won’t restore our land and titles… but it’ll restore our honor. And the benefit to you would be for the Wardens to reclaim your old base! Plenty of Warden history there too, I’m sure!”

“How is it that no one else had found it yet?”

“Landslides covered the road and tunnels that used to lead up to the Peak. But a few years ago, I started having dreams about it. My family started clearing out the mess while I started mapping out the route through the tunnels to get there, and now I know how to get there!” He finished off what was left of his pint, then said, “So once I’d found the way, I went to Duncan, I did. Told him that he could reclaim the old base and my family could have its honor back.”

“Why didn’t Duncan help you then?” I hated to ask but wanted to know.

“It’s because of the darkspawn. They had started breaking through in the Korcari Wilds about five years ago. Just little pockets of them here and there… but Duncan and the other Wardens were beginning to get the feeling a Blight was coming. So he got busy recruiting new Wardens and meeting with King Cailan. Because of this, he was unable to help me. Last I’d spoken to him, he had told me that after Ostagar, he’d see if he’d be able to try then. But now that he’s gone, Maker rest his soul, I’m hoping you will be willing to pick up where Duncan had left off.”

“So,” Alistair turned to me, our problems momentarily swept aside. “What do you think? Should we investigate this?”

“It **is** on the way to Denerim,” I said thoughtfully, “and if it has all this Grey Warden history… think of what we could potentially learn!” I leaned close to him and whispered, “Especially when we know so little.”

“There might be old relics up there too,” Levi said. “No one knows what is up there now. There are rumors it may even be haunted!”

 _Haunted? Well, that could be interesting,_ I thought. Then I said, “All right, Levi. We will accompany you to Soldier’s Peak. You can travel with us. We can leave in the morning.”

“Splendid! I can hardly wait to see what we find up there!”

 

The next morning we packed up all of our supplies and left West Hill behind. Levi rode on the cart with Wynne. Alistair was friendly to me at the beginning of our journey, but by the time we made camp, he was right back to ignoring me again. I looked at Alistair with a bit of longing and pain, but he went into our old tent without a glance at me. _I guess he’s still annoyed at Leliana_ _for_ _putting us in the same room at the inn_ _our first night there_ _…_ _and_ _of course, what ended up happening to us both that night as well_ _…_ I sighed and ended up in the new tent with Wynne while Levi bunked with Alistair.

It was the same on day two of our journey to Soldier’s Peak. Friendly during the day, ignoring me at night. When I tried to question him about it, he turned a bit hostile before heading into our old tent.

On day three, however, after a quick breakfast, Levi pulled me aside.

“Mind if I ask you a somewhat personal question, Warden?”

“I suppose it depends on the question,” I replied, curious.

“Um, well… Were you and your fellow Warden… together at one point?”

“We… were. But it’s complicated.” I sighed. “He just wants to stay as friends with me now.”

Levi leaned in closer to me. “Well, ah… He talks in his sleep, he does… and your name comes up quite often.”

“It… does?”

Levi turned pink. “He’s ah… whispered some rather embarrassing things. I’ve been trying to… ignore them, but it’s not easy. Perhaps you should talk to him about rearranging the sleeping accommodations?”

“I understand, Levi. I’ll try to… talk with him again this evening.”

 

That evening, after our meal, I did pull Alistair aside and briefly mentioned what Levi had told me. His face reddened with embarrassment. But his response was not what I had expected.

“Perhaps I should just sleep alone then,” he said. “Levi can bunk with Wynne.”

“And… me? Where do I sleep?” I asked, rather downcast.

“Perhaps Morrigan will be willing to share with you. Since you seem to be such good friends, I’m sure she won’t mind? Right?”

I sighed deeply and said, “I’ll go and ask her.”

 

Morrigan was angry about the situation… but not at me.

“Are you **sure** you don’t want me to hex him now?” She snorted in disgust. “It’s clear this little plan of yours and Leliana’s isn’t working as you’d hoped.”

“I’m not so sure about that. From what Levi told me, it seems I am on Alistair’s mind… often. And I plan to find out just how much. He can’t keep denying us forever.”

She quirked an eyebrow at me. “Really? Do tell…”

So I explained my plan. A few moments later, she cackled in glee.

 

After everyone had settled for the night into their tents, and I heard snores from the various tents, I took my rose soap out of my pack and stuck it into the pocket of my leggings. I then transformed into a black cat.

Morrigan gave me a grin. “I know you’re really doing this for you… but the thought of him suffering just makes me smile.”

I rolled my feline eyes and slunk out of the tent. Quietly I moved behind all of the tents until I came upon the last one, where I knew Alistair was… alone.

I sat down, still in cat form and listened carefully. He was snoring lightly. I then transformed back into myself and took the rose soap out of my pocket.

I whispered, “Cuimhnich air a 'chuimhne seo…” <Remember this memory…>, and gently blew across the soap.

Its scent intensified, and thanks to the spell, wafted it’s way past the canvas and into the tent. A moment later, I was rewarded when I heard a slight moan… and then, “Mmm, roses. I’m going to forever associate that lovely fragrance with you now, you know.”

It was very softly spoken, but to keep this to myself, I quickly spoke another spell while touching his tent. “Tha seo prìobhaideach dhomhsa.” <This is private for me.> A slight hesitation and then I whispered, “Leig leam fhaicinn thu…” <Let me see you…>

The layers of canvas melted away. They were still there physically, but the spell allowed me to see as though they were not there. When he came into view, my breath hitched. He was lying on his bedroll, his chest bare, and only wearing a thin pair of breeches as he slept.

 _Maker’s Breath, but he is so_ _handsome_ _! I love him so much! Please… let this work!_

I blew across the soap again. “Cuimhnich orm…” <Remember me…>

I saw him twitch and breathe deeply as the rose scent wafted by again. “Ohh… Kylara,” he murmured. His hands rose up and he began to lightly rub against his chest.

“Cuimhnich dhuinn…” <Remember us…> I blew across the soap one last time.

His back arched and his hands began to move down his body as the rose scent washed over him. “Mmm…” he moaned.

“Dream of me, my love,” I whispered. I was about to transform back and leave, but then everything changed with his next mumbled words.

“I miss you, Kylara. I’m sorry for… everything.” He breathed deeply again and then moaned out, “I wish you were here. I want you… so damn much!” He then moved his thin breeches down, exposing his thick shaft, already wet with arousal.

I swallowed and I brought my hand to my breasts, lightly tracing around my hardening nipples. I bit back a stifled groan and murmured quietly, “I’m here, my love…”

He couldn’t have heard me, yet it seemed as if he had. He grabbed his cock in his hand and began moving it slowly up and down, “Ah! Kylara!”

The sight of this was almost too much. I leaned back on the grass behind his tent, one hand playing with my breasts and my other now reaching down into my leggings and smalls. I managed another quick spell before I lost myself in passion. “Tha seo airson a inntinn, gun duine sam bith eile!” <This is for his mind, no one else!> As I saw him stroking himself faster, I moaned out, “Alistair, I am so wet for you!”

His breathing became more erratic as he moved even faster; his hips thrusting up to meet his strokes. “Kylara! Maker, I **need** you!”

I rubbed my clit faster and cried out, “Take me, my love! Oh! I-I… I’m coming! I’m coming for you!”

“Aahh! F-fuck, yes! I’m coming too!” he exclaimed. I watched him pump a few more times and then hot jets of his orgasm shot out and landed across his abdomen and chest. The passion and power of it took my very breath away. He collapsed back against his bedroll, panting with exertion, cum still leaking from his magnificent cock.

“Oh, Alistair…” I sighed and placed my hand gently on his tent. “I love you… Why can't you just love me again?!”

All of a sudden, he sat up, clearly awake now. He saw the results of his orgasm all over himself. “Maker’s Breath!” he murmured. “Was that a dream… or was it real?” He grabbed a rag out of his pack and his waterskin. As he cleaned himself up, he breathed out, “It felt so **real**! As if she had actually been in here with me!” He tossed the rag aside and then pulled up the breeches. As he lay back down, he murmured, “I can’t let her know that she affects me this much!” Tears ran down his face. “I just can’t! Not when everything is still so… uncertain!” As he slowly began to drift off back to sleep, he moaned out, “I’m so sorry, Kylara…”

 

I barely managed the incantation back to my human form once I’d reached Morrigan’s tent again.

“What happened?” she asked as she saw the tear tracks on my face.

“I don’t know if I hurt him, or myself more tonight,” I mumbled as fresh tears tricked down my face.

 

The morning of day five of our hike from West Hill had us heading up a narrow switchback trail that lead through a dense pine forest and several tunnels. When we emerged from the last tunnel, I gasped, and Alistair’s mouth hung open in awe. What we saw before us was certainly not what we had expected. When I mentioned this to Levi, he chuckled.

“Welcome to Soldier’s Peak!” he beamed.

The massive fortress loomed before us. While it was in quite a bit of disrepair, it was still extremely impressive for a building no one had seen in over two hundred years.

“I’d say this even rivals the royal palace in Denerim,” Alistair murmured.

There was the main building, which in and of itself, was huge. There were outer buildings, such as the barracks, stables, dormitories, guard towers, a tavern, and even something that looked to be a mage tower in the rear. _That would make a certain amount of sense,_ I thought. _Mages have been a vital part of the Grey Wardens_ _in the past_ _._ The whole campus was surrounded by a thick wall and a massive portcullis. No wonder the Wardens had been able to hold off King Arland’s forces for so long.

Not knowing how long we might be inside, we set up a small base camp in a clearing about two hundred meters from the portcullis We then grabbed our weapons and packs, and headed to the entrance of the keep.

After walking past the open portcullis, I felt it. A faint buzzing on my skin. My neck prickled. The very air around us was shimmering faintly. I could see that Wynne and Morrigan could also sense it. The Veil was thin here. Just then, we all seemed to feel reality bend around us.

All of a sudden we were surrounded by ghosts from the past!

“Fall back!” one ghost shouted. “Just fall back already!”

“Taking the Peak will not be easy, m’lord!” another yelled.

The first ghost, which apparently was the leader, sneered. “I gave the Wardens one chance to die with honor! Instead, they’ve holed themselves up like cowards! We follow the King’s advice. Starve them out!”

“But the Peak has months of supplies!”

“Then we wait!” the ghost captain yelled. “When they’re too weak to lift their weapons, we will send them to their final judgment!”

The air shimmered again, and the ghosts all vanished.

Levi, Zevran, Alistair, and Oghren all had stunned looks on their faces. Even after they had vanished, Winston’s hackles were still raised and he whined with uncertainty. Leliana seemed to take it in stride. Shayle shrugged, clearly unaffected. Only Wynne, Morrigan, and I – being mages – understood what had just happened.

“What… what was that?” Levi was pale. “I… feel a bit woozy. I-I’m not going mad, am I? You saw it too, right?”

I nodded.

“I’ve heard an Orlesian ballad about something like this,” Leliana mused. “A beauty trapped in a dream. In the song, Bellissa never wakes up.”

“Your pretty friend here is making me nervous, Warden,” Levi mumbled. “Is this place truly haunted as the rumors have said?”

“The Veil is thin here. It is that way at the Circle Tower too,” I tried to explain.

“The Veil?” Levi was clearly confused.

“It’s what separates us from the Fade and demons.” Clearly, that didn’t help.

“D-demons?” Levi shuddered.

I tried to calm the poor, terrified merchant. “I’m sure we will be just fine.”

“We’ll see.” He shuddered. “After you, then,” he said, indicating that I should go first.

We proceeded forward and then took a left turn up a hill. There was nothing of interest, save an old statue and a lot of skeletal corpses. As we headed towards the main staircase, Levi suddenly yelped, “Marker’s Breath! Look!”

All of the skeletal corpses began to rise. Some wore the tattered armor of Arland’s troops. The others wore very old Grey Warden uniforms. I thought they were going to reenact their battle, but all of the dead instead turned towards us, eyes glowing red. They began to move towards us!

“Everyone, stay back!” I shouted. I began chanting and summoned a slightly weaker version of the blizzard spell I had used on the High Dragon back at Andraste’s Temple. Once I let the spell drop, the majority of the skeletal troops were frozen. All of the warriors moved in and began smashing them into tiny pieces. Leliana and Morrigan used long ranged attacks to kill the undead that had not been hit by my spell. Soon they were all gone.

Levi breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness you are all here with me! Had I come this far on my own, I probably wouldn’t be alive to have told the tale!”

“I’d consider asking you to stay behind back at our camp, Levi… But I know how much this means to you.” I then spotted a crossbow on the ground near one of the skeletons and picked it up, along with a quiver of bolts. “Think you can use one of these?” I asked him. “They’re slower than a normal bow, and it doesn’t require as much strength.”

“I-I think I can use it.” He strapped the quiver on his back.

“Just point and shoot,” I said with a smile. “Oh, and try to not shoot us, okay?”

“Sure thing…” Levi chuckled nervously.

 

We headed up the flight of stairs to the main keep entrance. Alistair and Sten pushed on the doors. At first, they wouldn’t budge, but with a little more muscle, they finally began to move, creaking ominously on their hinges. It was dark inside, so I muttered my glowing orb spell and tossed it upwards. Dust and cobwebs were thick everywhere and my first immediate thought was, _Please… No spiders!_

When nothing descended from the ceiling, I breathed a sigh of relief. I saw Alistair smile slightly, him knowing full well my dislike of the eight-legged menaces.

He put a hand briefly on my shoulder, but then quickly jerked it away, still trying to maintain the _façade_ that he didn’t want me as more than a friend. The sexual tension between us was getting harder to ignore as the days passed. I wasn’t sure how much longer either one of us would be able to keep this up. Sooner or later, one of us was going to break, and I had the feeling it was going to be me.

I was quickly spared from thinking anything more on the issue, as the air shimmered in front of us again. Another memory from the past… this time a Grey Warden mage talking with his commanding officer, which turned out to be Sophia Dryden!

“The men’s morale is low, and my spells are of little use in this matter, Commander.”

She nodded, and then replied, “There is more to leading men than sorcery, Avernus. I will remind them that they are Wardens.” More ghostly images appeared – Grey Warden men and women long since dead. Sophia turned to them and shouted out, “Men, I won’t lie to you, the situation is grim. Our forces are outnumbered, our bellies are empty, and our hearts are sagging… But **we are Wardens!** Darkspawn flee when they hear our horns. Archdemons die when they taste our blades! So are we to bend knee to a mere human despot? NO! I, for one, will never give up! I will not surrender just to dance on Arland’s gallows! So I propose here and now in these hallowed halls where generations of our brethren stood vigil against the darkspawn and evil… That we send a message to that fat bastard! In this sacred place, proud men and women, strong men and women, stood defiant and would rather die than submit to tyranny!”

The ghost Wardens all cheered and then slowly faded from view.

Levi approached me, awe on his face. “So brave, even when starving… and my great-great-grandmother stood with them!”

“I still can’t believe that King Arland attacked the Grey Wardens…” Alistair muttered.

“By then, he’d already banished their order. My great-great-grandmother refused to leave, along with those that followed her,” Levi said. “She was so brave!”

I was beginning to have slightly different thoughts on the matter… It seemed to me like there was more to this story that needed to be unraveled.

In the next room ahead of us, we were immediately set upon by an arcane horror and two rage demons. I quickly froze the demons for Alistair. He then killed them with his sword. Leliana, Morrigan, and Levi shot the arcane horror from a distance. When it got too close for comfort, Shayle stepped up and punched it, the fire ability from the augmentation crystals countering the ice abilities of the horror. It died quickly.

The entrance to the next room in front of us was blocked by debris, but there were doors on the right and left of us. I chose the left side first. It was the officer’s quarters and it was filled with skeletal archers. Since it was a narrow fighting space, I summoned my fire tornado spell and quickly took them out. After they were dead, I found a short, torn note up near some bunks.

 

 _Soldier's Peak_ _is more than we bargained for. There is sinister magic at work here. The men are seeing things and cannot tell nightmares from reality. The fallen return to life to attack again and again, and we are assaulted by dark creatures the likes of which I have never seen. Whoever is responsible is intent on destroying us all – the king's army and the Grey Wardens_ _both._

_Send help! We cannot last much longer._

– _Commander Athlar._

 

I stuffed the note into my pocket. There was definitely more going on here than Levi knew. There was more to this than just Arland versus the Grey Wardens, and I had a feeling the Sophia Dryden was the key.

We left the officer’s area and used the other door. It lead down a hallway, with another door that opened to the kitchens. There was nothing noteworthy, so we passed the kitchens. The next doorway put us in a library. Demons rose from the floor.

An ice spell killed them. Once they were dead, I saw a burnt book lying on the floor. As soon as I touched it, more ghostly visions appeared!

“The door won’t hold, archivist!” a worried mage Warden said.

The elderly ‘archivist’ was busy writing in the book, which was the same burnt one in the present day. “Almost done!” he spoke urgently. “The truth must be told!”

“What does it matter?” the young mage bemoaned. “We’re dead…”

“Our grand rebellion… so close! And for us to die here? A stillbirth…” the archivist muttered.

“We never should have done it! Wardens aren’t supposed to oppose Kings and Princes!”

The archivist shook his head. “Should we stand idly by, while – ”

The scene abruptly faded.

Levi scratched his head. “Why’d we not heard the rest?”

“I can only assume it was cut off there because something must have happened to them at that precise moment, which immediately halted their conversation,” I replied.

“Like they were attacked… or… killed?” Alistair said.

I could only nod.

“But what’s this about a rebellion?” Levi asked. “If only the book weren’t burned…”

I didn’t know what else to say, other than, “Perhaps other records may still exist.”

“I sure hope so, Warden.”

In the back of the library, there was a flight of stairs leading up. Once we entered the door, the large room opened up before us. There was a large fireplace and a few tables and chairs scattered around. _Perhaps an old recreation room?_ I thought. However, that was not the most interesting thing. In the back corner of the room stood a large item that looked like a mirror, but the surface was cloudy, instead of clear.

“Is it possible?” I heard Morrigan mutter. “An Eluvian? Here?”

“A what now?” I asked.

She quickly shook her head. “Nothing. ‘Tis nothing.”

I shrugged. In front of this mirror-thing, there were thick purple clouds swirling all around. “The Veil is torn. Great and terrible magics were worked here.”

No sooner did I say that when another vision from the past appeared.

“Make them pay for every bit, men!” Sophia shouted. She immediately counted a sword swung at her by one of Arland’s troops and then stabbed him through the stomach. “Hold the flank!” She then turned around and yelled, “Avernus! We need you!”

In the distance was the mage Warden I had seen with Sophia in the main hall. He was muttering something in a language that even I, in all my studies, had never heard before. “Nelatep obresooth sythan net bekon!”

From the floor rose a huge rage demon. _He’s summoning demons?!_ _Oh, this is not going to end well!_ Apparently, the ghostly soldier near me thought so as well.

“Andraste’s Blood… Wh-what?!” he screamed before he was burnt to ash.

“More Avernus! Whatever it takes!!” Sophia screamed.

“Kaelee ai benfotus victus!” Avernus muttered. This time it was a hunger demon that was summoned. They were usually the weakest of the demon hierarchy, but this one looked really nasty.

“Press them! Press them NOW!” Sophia bellowed.

The rage demon and the hunger demon turned and quickly killed two Grey Wardens, a young female mage and a warrior.

“No!” Avernus shouted. “I command you! Kill the King’s men!”

The hunger demon turned on Avernus. “Fool! So much death, suffering… and blood! The Veil is torn now… and your soul is mine!”

“Acolytes… Retreat now!” Avernus said in a wavering voice. “The battle is lost!” He fled the scene, running up a flight of stairs.

“AVERNUS!” Sophia screamed. Then everything went white and the ghosts vanished.

“Wh-what just happened?” Levi was clearly shaken by what he’d just seen. Just then, demons and the ghosts of the dead Wardens appeared again, but this time to attack us! “Oh, no! More fighting?” Levi cursed and grabbed the crossbow.

We didn’t escape that fight unscathed, so as Wynne was making the rounds healing cuts and burns, Levi turned to me. “The Wardens… they summoned demons! I can’t believe it!” He looked surprised and upset. “… and Sophia! She knew!”

I wasn’t sure what to say to make it sound any less unpleasant, but I tried. “She was fighting for her life…”

Levi didn’t buy that. “I-I always thought my family was better than that.”

“We may still find out more, up ahead.”

“I’m wondering if that is a good idea anymore… but, lead on, Warden.”

On the third floor, there were more skeletons to kill, which we did. The door in the back of the room was warded by very strong magic.

“Think we could dispel it, Morrigan?” I asked.

“I don’t think so. ‘Tis very old magic protecting that door.”

“Well, then, only other way is through that door on the left, then!” Leliana said.

The sight greeting us once we all filed into the small office left much to be desired… and the smell was even worse! Old death and decay. A woman in full Grey Warden armor stood behind the desk. She turned slowly to face us. The flesh on her face was rotting and black. I didn’t want to even think what the rest of her looked like under the armor.

Winston immediately began to growl.

“Get this annoyance away from me!” she shouted. Her dead milky eyes turned and looked at me, I shuddered. “Step no further, Warden! This one would speak with you!”

“W-who… or what are you?”

“This one is the Dryden. Commander. Sophia.” She chuckled darkly. “All of these things.”

Levi’s voice quavered. “Sophia? You’re my great-great-grandmother?”

“Yes… This one is,” she hissed at Levi. He paled and backed up. ‘Sophia’ turned back to face me. “You have slain many of the demon ilk to get here. This one would propose… a deal.”

“Is there anything left of the real Sophia inside of you?” I asked.

The corner of her rotting mouth turned up in a cruel smirk. “This one has tasted her memories; seen her thoughts and hidden places. But she is food for this one now. No more, no less.”

“Ah, Levi? I think your great-great-grandmother is possessed…” Alistair muttered.

He tried to hide his fear and disgust with a joke. “That, or she’s really let herself go…” He tried to chuckle, but it fell flat. He sighed. “My great-great-grandmother is dead. I don’t know what that is.”

“Why should we trust you… demon,” I said with a frown.

“What is one woman-child compared to your might? Strike me down if my terms offend.” She laughed cruelly. “A fool this one would be to betray the Wardens.”

“Tell me about your… ‘deal’,” I said.

“You… can’t be serious!” Leliana gasped. “There’s nothing left of Commander Dryden. She’s possessed!”

“Your fledgling should mind its place! Meek, subservient, quiet.”

“I’m no fledgling!”

“Are you a Grey Warden?” the demon asked.

“No,” Leliana replied.

“Then you have no say here!”

I gave Leliana gentle look. “Let me worry about this.”

“I, too, find it puzzling that it is consorting with a demon,” Shayle cocked her head at me. “Are they not evil?”

‘Sophia’ stared at her. “The humans are capable of far greater evil than this one or its kind, golem. A deal with this one could advance your cause.”

I sighed. “Go on, then.”

“The Soldier’s Peak traps me. This one sees so many tantalizing places in the Dryden’s memories. This one would see them for herself.” She turned and stared at a nearby painting of a pristine field on the wall. “For me to be free, into the old mage tower you go and destroy. In return, this one seals the tear in the Veil.” She then turned back to face us. “No more demons, no more enemies. Your Peak would be safe, just let this one go into the world.”

“And what exactly will you do if we free you?”

“Wait!” Alistair cried out. “You actually are going to make a deal with… it?”

“We need answers… and Levi wanted to know about his family. She apparently has the knowledge that we seek.”

“I-I don’t know if this is really worth it, Warden. Making a deal with a demon…”

“Shut up, both of you!” I shouted. “Let me handle it!”

Alistair actually looked shocked. “I thought you were better than that,” he mumbled.

“Guess you didn’t know me as well as you thought,” I muttered. I was tired and frustrated. Both with Alistair and myself. I knew damn well I wasn’t making any ‘deals’, and Alistair should have known that as well, but Sophia had to believe me for it to work. _I_ _will_ _apologize later,_ I thought. _If I feel he deserves it, anyways._ I faced Sophia again and gestured for her to continue and answer my earlier question.

“This one will roam, this one will see, this one will… **feed**. But without me, the Veil will grow weaker – more demons, more misery. You choose just one of my kind or many.”

“Will you tell me more about Sophia… the **real** Sophia, that is?”

“This one knows all, but will only talk after the tower lies broken!”

“Can you tell me anything more about the mage tower?” I asked.

Sophia frowned. “You must only destroy! For your purpose, there is nothing more you need to know!”

“Fine then. We’ll be right back.”

“This one will wait here.”

 

We left Sophia’s office and made our way to the rear door, which must lead out to the mage tower. Surprisingly, the magic barrier was gone… as if whatever lay beyond was now expecting us.

Through the door and back outside, we made our way across a long narrow bridge that lead to the tower.

“Traps ahead!” Leliana warned. I’ll take care of them. She vanished into stealth. A moment later, she reappeared. “All done. Now we can - ”

Skeletons had appeared on the far side of the bridge and were charging across at us. I channeled a strong lightning spell, blasting them to bits before they even reached us. Levi was stunned. “Hope you plan on using that against that demon in Sophia.”

“We’ll see, Levi. Let’s just get across for now and see what is so bloody special about this tower.”

We crossed the bridge and went into the tower. After fighting a few more walking corpses, I found an old discarded journal next to a table with various jars on it. Unlike the last journal that had been burnt, this one had immaculately kept notes in it. I skimmed through and read a few passages to myself.

_Day 32 – The subject is not responding to the stimuli. Testing the pain threshold has uncovered nothing. Only three subjects are left._

I flipped ahead.

_Day 82 – If only I could reproduce last night’s extraordinary success! Electricity is only a catalyst. The blood is the key._

I flipped to the back of the book.

_Day 97 – Energy and blood. Repeated applications have duplicated the results. I conjecture that success can be induced alchemically. But there are no more subjects left. If only I had one more or a dozen… the things I could do!_

I slowly stood up. This was the journal of the old mage Warden, Avernus! Over on the table, there was a sealed vial. Was this what he’d been working on before he died? I picked it up and studied the murky liquid inside. I wondered what it could potentially do.

“You’re not thinking of drinking that, are you?” Alistair said with disgust.

“And what if I am?”

“You have no idea what is in that! It could be poison!”

“I don’t think Avernus would leave a vial of poison just sitting out in the open!”

“That is the same mage that summoned demons for Sophia! And look how well that turned out!” he growled out.

“Fine! I won’t drink it!” I made to look as if I had put it back amongst the other vials when in actuality, I pocketed it. I wanted to study it. I also picked up the old journal and stuffed it in my pack.

No one questioned my taking the journal, but I saw Morrigan looking at me shrewdly. I suspected she knew full well I had pocketed the strange vial of liquid.

We then opened the door to the actual tower interior and stepped inside. The vast chamber spread out before us. Strung around the room were various cages, some with skeletal corpses inside them still. All sorts of instruments lay around. It was a lab! But even more surprisingly, it was still in use!

“Ah, I was expecting someone… or something. Please, come in, but don’t disrupt any of my experiments!”

“That powerful magic ward on the door? That was you doing?” I asked.

“Yes. But then I sensed it was time for me to meet the strange guests that have come so far.”

We all walked forward through the lab – past tables of beakers, flasks, and other alchemical gear. On other tables, books were stacked high and strange crystal clusters were piled on yet another. I saw Shayle looking at them with great interest. Finally, we saw the speaker. An elderly mage hobbled down a flight of short stairs and approached us.

“Even now the demons are seeking a way to replenish their numbers. Are you to thank for this welcomed, but temporary, imbalance?”

I gasped when I recognized who stood before me. He was very agèd… given the fact that he should have died _two hundred years ago!_ “Avernus?! The old mage Warden? You’re still alive?”

I heard a collective gasp from the rest of the group.

He chuckled. “Only just. I feel as though I have a short time left.”

“Careful,” Leliana said cautiously. “This… man has dabbled in matters forbidden by the Maker. He may look frail, but don’t trust him.”

Avernus scoffed. “So the Maker told you that, did he? Short-sighted men have forbidden my research, not any god. Pah!” He looked at us all. “Enough! Why are you here? What is your intent?”

I stepped forward. “I am looking for some answers.”

“Aren’t we all?” When he saw the expression on my face, he sighed. “Ask your questions then.”

“Tell me what happened here.”

“What use would storytelling serve?” Avernus shrugged. “The tyrant Arland is long dead. As is all our noble co-conspirators and the grand rebellion. Sophia's corpse may walk and talk. But she, too, is no more.”

“How do we know that you are not possessed?” Leliana asked.

Eyebrow raised, Avernus stared at Leliana. “You've met dear old Sophia, haven't you?” He chuckled. “My body is sustained from a similar source, but my mind and my volition are intact.”

“Blood magic…” Wynne muttered.

“Yes, dear lady. The Chantry foolishly forbids blood magic, but there are so many secrets to uncover. As my body decayed, I found ways to extend it. But that can only go so far.”

“I thought you weren’t against blood magic anymore.” Morrigan eyed Wynne.

“I didn’t say that. What I said to you then was that my narrow-minded view of the uses of old magic was wrong… but what he is doing! Using blood magic to extend his life beyond all normal means…”

“Look, can we save this discussion for another time?” I huffed. “We have more pressing matters to deal with.” Wynne nodded. I turned back to Avernus again and said, “A demon has taken over Sophia's body. She asked me to come and destroy this Tower. She said that would set her free.”

Avernus laughed. “It is touching that Sophia cares enough to send assassins after so many years. So many demons haunt the Peak, and I'm only one man. Sometimes they escape through the fog. But never her. My magic keeps her bound here as it keeps me tied here as well. Oh, but she must be so eager to be free! So tell me… Are you merely her pawn then? Or is there another reason you're here?”

“First, another question. Why did you summon demons in the fight against Arland’s men?” I asked. “Surely you had to know that summoning so many demons was foolhardy! Demons can not be trusted!”

“Perhaps. But it was survival! For months, I prepared at the summoning circles, researched the darkest depths of the Fade. That moment was a triumph of demonic lore. Dozens of demons called by my hand. But with so many variables, I suppose calculation errors were inevitable. I was so close…”

“And Commander Dryden knew of the demons?” Alistair asked.

Avernus scoffed. “She gave the order! But even if she hadn’t, I would have summoned the demons, anyway.” He turned away from us for a moment, but we still heard him mutter, “It was necessary.”

“Necessary?!” Alistair almost shouted. “Having to relieve yourself after an eight-hour ride is necessary! But there's **no** excuse for summoning demons!”

“Charming.” Avernus shook his head.

“You sound very proud of your actions…” I said.

“My only regret is that it failed. I never had a chance to make Arland pay.” He then sighed. “But the toll of years has erased our failure, hasn't it? It seems so pressing then, but the Kingdom lives on…”

“You're to blame for all this. There are some things you just don't do!” I didn’t mean to sound like I was lecturing someone two hundred plus years my senior, yet Avernus nodded.

“From a Warden, that means something.” Just then, he looked every bit his age. “I am so tired… so old.” He leaned on his staff.

“Soldier's Peak must be rid of its plague of demons.”

“Agreed,” Avernus replied quietly. “This must be the first priority. The only priority. I can only hope to summon the strength and energy I’d need to do it.”

Now I gave a slight smile. “Sophia has agreed to seal the Veil.”

“Really? Now, why would a demon willingly volunteer to seal off the access that allows others of her ilk to pass through?”

“We ‘bargained’ a deal. She seals the Veil and answers any questions we ask of her…”

Avernus’s eyes narrowed. “So you're here to kill me after all?”

“No, I have a plan.”

“Really? All right, I have to admit I'm intrigued. What is your plan?” Avernus asked me.

“For it to work you would need to be able to suppress your magic… to fool her into thinking that you have been destroyed. Can you do that?” I asked.

“Ah, I see where you're going with this. Yes, That should be easy enough for me to do. And after she has sealed the Veil, and you have your answers, you will kill her right?”

I turned to the rest of my friends. “If any of you honestly thought I'd let that **thing** in Sophia run free…” Leliana and Alistair both looked a bit guilty.

“I see! So we'll use her to get answers about my family, then kill her… Right?” Levi said.

“She needs to seal the Veil first. So the rest of you will need to keep your mouths shut so that she will believe me.” I turned back to face the elderly mage. “Avernus, whenever you're ready.”

 

After crossing the bridge again we reentered Sophia's old office.

“Ah,” she said. “The maelstrom has subsided. The magus's web is destroyed. This one remembers the deal. Come, follow.”

We left her office and proceeded back into the room where the Veil has been torn.

Sophia breathed deeply. “Gossamer strands only stand between this world and home. Feel it? So deliciously weak here. So frail. The entire world should be as such. But this one will feed the Veil. Make it strong. This one will sew the strands together, make the lattice with pain, experience, and exquisite agony. My brethren will not make it easy. You are to keep them away from this one. Are you ready?”

We all nodded. Wynne and Leliana stayed close to Levi. Morrigan shape-shifted into her bear form. Levi’s eyes goggled a bit at that. Alistair, Winston, Shayle, Sten, and Oghren all spread out through the room. Zevran vanished into stealth and waited. I stood as close to ‘Sophia’ as I could.

As she began to close each summoning circle, waves of demons came out. Hunger demons, rage demons, and lastly a Desire Demon. Once she fell, it was over.

“And it is done. Your Veil is strong. This one has kept his word. Now this one will go.” The Sophia Demon rubbed her decayed hands together. “There is much to do.”

“Not so fast,” I said. “Levi gets his answers.”

“Fine. Ask, human. Ask quickly.”

“So my great-great-grandmother… she knew about Avernus and the blood magic, then?” Levi asked.

Sophia Demon nodded. “Yes, she did. Avernus was powerful, useful. It suited her ambitions.”

“But my grandmother was a hero… wasn’t she?”

“In her own mind, yes.” The demon smirked. “She is aspired to rule the land of the waking. To cast out the tyrant King. To mete out justice to those who betrayed her. Cousin Arland was so coy, so devious – years before she sensed the asp.”

_Sophia had been the King's cousin?_

The demon continued. “The old King had died without an heir and the Dryden sought to don the crown. But the boy Arland was thought pliable by those in power. Fools. The Dryden… powerful, charismatic, insightful – and ignored. Once Arland was King, they gave her a choice… death or the Wardens. So she bided her time. She waited. She lived. The boy King Arland spread terror. Spread death. And the Dryden plotted. But Arland's spies were too clever. She was discovered. And her last battle was here.”

Levi swallowed. “And you, demon? How did you come to take my great-great-grandmother?”

“When the Avernus deserted her in that final battle, the Dryden would not die. Fierce pride, lovely delicious terror – this one came to her. She would live, in a fashion. And so she does. For this one is honest.”

“Do you have any proof of any of this? Any proof of her good deeds and bad?” Levi asked in a shaky voice.

“Poor ilk of this body, this one has nothing. Only words lost in the wind.”

“I see.” Levi backed away.

“Now this one will go!”

“Not so fast demon. You aren’t going anywhere!”

What? You will betray me? This one will grind your bones in my teeth!”

Sophia Demon drew her sword and charged me. I hit her with the sleep combat spell that Morrigan had taught me back in Orzammar. She halted in her tracks, wobbling in place. She wasn’t completely out, however, being too powerful. “What trickery is this?!”

“No tricks, just your demise!” Alistair shouted and stabbed his sword through her neck, then yanked it out. Black blood gushed out of the wound. Oghren then smashed his warhammer against her knees causing her to collapse. Then Sten swung his two-handed sword, slicing her head clean off. It rolled across the floor and the body fell to the ground. Sophia Dryden was now fully dead.

Levi looked a bit green. “I can’t believe my great-great-grandmother was still alive! Well, sort of alive, sort of dead… I need a drink.”

Oghren came up and gave Levi his flask.

 

After removing the ancient Grey Warden armor off the corpse (Levi said it should be cleaned and repaired, and Alistair agreed), a combined flame spell from Morrigan and me allowed us to burn the body. Levi looked ill again as it was being done. I told him to go outside and get some air. He left then.

Once it had been finished, I used an air spell to clear the area. Levi eventually returned, looking a bit better now. He came up to me. “You've done it, Warden. Soldier's Peak is safe again. But are you sure about leaving that Avernus up there? A blood mage?” he asked.

“Do not speak of me as though I'm not present, boy.” Avernus came down the stairs. I see you've taken care of the Demon Sophia and for that I'm grateful.”

“But common folks should never hear of this. Some still distrust the Wardens even in a Blight… crazy buggers,” Levi replied.

“You needn't worry about me boy. I will stay in my tower and I will keep quiet. No one will even know I'm there. You don't even have to tell your family.”

I put a hand on Avernus’s arm. “How exactly was Arland a tyrant? History books only gloss over the story.”

“He ruled with fear and poison. His treachery pit noble against noble in terrible battle. Many thought him a monster, so we gathered allies to rebel. We met with Teyrn Cousland. Being one of the more powerful voices, we figured with him on our side, we had a chance of victory. Instead, the king’s guard ambushed us. They killed the Teyrn. Commander Dryden and I barely escaped.”

“It was Sophia's great-great-grandson that brought us here. The demon answered some, but I believe he has other questions.”

“Master Mage, uh, ser. My family's name has been worth less than dirt for over two centuries now. Do you have any proof that Sophia was a hero?” Levi asked.

“Ah, the boy who braved the mists. So you heeded my call?” Avernus chuckled. “And you’re a Dryden? The cosmos does have a sense of humor.”

“Your call?” I asked.

“He was but a boy when he entered the tunnels below the Peak. His heart pure. His character certain. In dreams, I gave him the keys he would need. He would be my deliverance,” Avernus replied cryptically.

“Just answer Levi's question, please.”

He smiled faintly. “Your great-great-grandmother was the best of us. Brave, charismatic, fiery. Utterly devoted to the fight. But still, we lost. We fought against a tyrant, you know? So full of vigor, then. So blind to consequence. But proof? There's none to be had.”

“I'm sorry Levi,” I said.

“I… I had hoped. But thank you, Warden. I guess there is no way to redeem my family. You don't have the answers ser Mage and neither did my… well, the demon.”

“The past won't offer redemption. Try the future instead,” I gave Levi a smile.

He nodded. “For so long, I was focused on the past. On answers. Perhaps I would have been better off if I’d stayed at home.” He sighed. “Enough of that though. I find myself at a bit of a loss. But you? You’ve got a whole fortress now!”

“Would you and your family stay on, please? We could use good merchants and craftspeople to help us rebuild. Especially since Alistair and I still have our own quest to finish.”

“Did I just hear my name?” Alistair walked up with a smile. I sighed. When he was like this, it was so hard not to love him. I just wished he was willing to resolve our personal problems. “Looks like we’re done here. A demonic invasion thwarted, a warden base safely rescued. We do good work.”

“Yes.” I still wanted to have a private chat with Levi, so I then said to him, “Alistair, why don’t you see if there is anything else we can salvage from here before we leave?”

“Good idea. I’ll do that.” He then walked off.

“Still having problems between you two?” Levi asked. “Not that I mean to pry…”

I nodded. “I hope someday we’ll work it out.”

“You’re both young. Give it some time.” He glanced around the room. “Yeah, I suppose we can help you out. We’ll get this place cleaned up for you, while you stop the Blight! Once your duty is done, you’ll have a nice place to come back to… and someday train new Wardens, right?”

“I suppose so. Can’t really rebuild the order now, but if we’re successful, I’m sure there are Wardens in other countries that can help us here, in Ferelden.”

“I will keep in touch with you, Warden. You have my word as a Dryden!”

  
Much later, when everyone was heading back to our base camp, I had a moment where Avernus, Morrigan, and I were alone.

“So, I've seen your experiments,” I said to Avernus.

“Though you may not think so, they were necessary. Any tool, any iota of information that could defeat the fell demons was justified. As a Warden, you should know that,” he replied.

“He has a point there. If a single spell could win the battle, I would not question its source,” Morrigan agreed.

“Your charming companion is quite correct. You to do well to heed her advice.”

“What was the purpose of your experiments?” I then asked.

“To stop the demonic tide. To correct the miscalculations of the past. You know that blood magic comes from demons.” I nodded, as Avernus continued. “They could counter every bit of lore I knew. But the darkspawn taint? That is alien to them. And it has power!”

“What power?”

“You use it merely sense darkspawn, yes?” Again, I nodded. “A triviality. My research has discovered so much more – hinted at even greater heights. With it, I believe the Wardens could grow even more powerful.”

I shook my head. “But you sacrificed your fellow Wardens!”

“Child, it may seem cruel, but it was vital,” Avernus replied softly. “By then, everyone else was dead. Sophia was possessed. We were trapped in my tower. I explained what it was that I needed, and they told me to go ahead. Unfortunately, there were not enough left for me to complete my research.”

I gave it some thought and asked, “Could you teach me what you've learned?” Morrigan looked at me with surprise.

“You've already read my journal, haven't you?” he asked.

“Not all of it. But I took it, it that all right?”

“I have notes in my tower. All I have learned so far is in that journal. But in time, with proper materials, I could learn so much more.”

“But I thought you said you didn't have much time left,” I said.

“With the Veil mended, I will use what time I have left to continue my experiments in peace. Perhaps I could advance the Wardens’ knowledge one last time before age finally claims me.”

“What about this potion I found near your journal?” I pulled it out of my pocket.

“Ah, my last successful batch.”

“What will it do to me if I drink it?”

“It will change the taint in you. It will give you access to new abilities. You’ll be able to use your tainted blood damage enemies, particularly darkspawn. Also as a mage, it will help you regain mana… but at a small cost to your health.”

“Any negative effects?” I asked.

“There is a small chance it might accelerate the taint in you. I never had a chance to fully test it.”

“Can you do your research without blood magic?”

Avernus looked thoughtful. “I could try, but it would drastically slow me down… and time is not on my side.”

I glanced around. We were still alone. I pulled Morrigan and Avernus closer. “This stays between us alone. If you can get willing volunteers – who know **exactly** what they are getting involved with – then you may experiment away.” I handed him back the vial. “I’ll let you keep this, for now. If you can possibly make a better version of it, let me know.”

“I feel I'm close to a breakthrough. And now I can dedicate all of my time to research. I will share anything I learn with you.”

 

As we walked back to base camp, Morrigan whispered to me, “You’ve changed, Kylara. I never thought you – of all mages – would agree to let him use blood magic for his research.”

“Desperate times may just call for desperate measures,” I said sadly.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 29 For those that haven’t played, you do not venture into West Hill… at least not in the main game. This was only part of my story. Secondly, while Levi Dryden is in the game as part of a DLC quest, he just shows up in your party camp. I figured for the sake of my tale, it would make more sense to have him meet Alistair & Kylara in a town.
> 
> 30 Levi calls Sophia his great-great-grandmother, but technically that would be incorrect as she lived 200 years ago (assuming each generation is 25 years - just to keep things simple - that would be seven generations, plus Levi). Five greats, then grandmother! It could be that Levi didn't really know this... Or perhaps it is because the game developers didn't want to write out that many "greats" in the game dialogue... lol!


	30. Desperation and First Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylara has had enough. Breaking point finally reached, she reaches out to Avernus for advice... but the end results may not be what she expects. Later while on their way to Denerim, the group gets caught in the first snow storm of the season. They end up taking shelter at an unlikely place.

After another night of being ignored by Alistair, my patience in dealing with his behavior was just about done.

We broke camp the next morning and bid a farewell to Levi.

“Are you going to be all right staying here alone?” I asked. Then I leaned closer and said with a faint smile, “I don’t think Avernus will be much for company.”

“You’re probably right on that, Warden.” He chuckled. “But I won’t be here along for long. Prior to us arriving, I’d sent word to my family. They should all get here soon and then we can begin our work in restoring the place for you!”

“That is fabulous news,” Alistair commented as he approached to say his farewells to Levi. “We will have to find a way to swing by here again soon to see the progress!” He then turned and walked away, without saying one word to me.

That did it. Anger burned inside of me, my breaking point evidently reached. I turned and marched away from Levi and over to a nearby grove of young trees. Seething in frustration, I sent out my anger as a wave of telekinetic energy. The young trees burst into splinters. I briefly saw Levi’s mouth open in shock. Then I stormed off and went inside Soldier’s Peak Keep.

 

Leliana watched this happen and fear filled her face. She quickly walked over to Alistair.

“Yes, Leliana? What do you need?”

“Take a walk with me, please?”

“But… we should finish packing…”

“Now!”

“All right!”

After they had gotten far enough away from the rest of the party, Leliana turned to face Alistair. “You realize you are destroying her, don’t you?”

“Des- No! Why would I do that?” he replied in shock.

“I urge you to think very carefully about your choices here. The both of you jumped into your relationship fairly early, before you both fully realized the monumental task you had before you. Stress began to take its toll on you both. You had a fight, then you break it off with her. Now you tell her you only want to be friends… and in a way, I can understand that. King or no. Darkspawn. Blight. Archdemon. Treaties. Avenging your brother and your mentor. I know you are dealing with a lot, but you don’t think she isn’t feeling the same? You are both the **last** Grey Wardens and you both are trying to stop something that seems nigh impossible. Something that had taken thousands, if not many, many more troops and Wardens to accomplish in the past! Might other Wardens hear of our plight and come to investigate? Sure, that is a possibility, but for now, it is **just the two of you**! Friends work together, but you are not! You treat her nice one moment and then ignore her the next. How can you not see that you are driving her away!”

“But… I…”

Leliana spoke a bit softer. “Alistair, I care for you. I also care for Kylara. Right now, you are really only thinking of yourself. Yes, it was I who booked you in the same room that first night back in West Hill. I was hoping the two of you would just talk. Instead the shell you’d carefully tried to construct around yourself cracked a little. She had a nightmare, and then you had an intimate moment with her… But then you ran from her, instead of trying to work it out what had just happened.”

“H-how did you know about that?”

“She told me. And before you think to get angry about it, I’ll have you know it hurt her very much. She came to my room the morning after you’d left her, exhaustion and tears still on her face. She’s also told me you dream about her…”

“And she knows what I dream? She is a mind-reader now?”

“Alistair, one would have to be blind to not see that you still care about her! And she cares for you! Loves you! You both belong together!” Tears now in her eyes, she finally said, “For Maker’s Sake, you need to fix this… before it is too late! If you don’t, you will lose her. She’ll likely end up doing something stupid just to prove her worth to you one last time! And it will probably get her killed! Then where will you be? King or Warden… either way, you will be alone.”

She left him then, standing by a pile of twigs and splinters that used to be trees.

 

I made my way through the filthy Keep, my floating light spell hovering ahead to provide illumination in the darker sections. _Levi and his family sure do have their work cut out for them,_ I thought sourly. _But he did volunteer. Hope his other family doesn’t mind._

I picked my way around, stopping briefly where the Veil had been mended. I stood in front of the cloudy mirror. _What was it that I heard Morrigan call this thing? An Eluvian? I wonder what that is? None of my texts back in the Tower mentioned such a device._ I saw images dance and shimmer in it. My hand reached out…

“I wouldn’t touch that, were I you,” a voice spoke out.

I jumped back. “Oh, Avernus. Sorry, you just startled me. “So what exactly is an Eluvian?”

“Ah, so you’ve heard of them?”

“No,” I replied. “I just heard Morrigan call it that.”

“Your young witch friend is correct. This is an Eluvian. As for what they are, the ancient elves of Arlathan left no roads to travel between their cities. Instead, they used these enchanted mirrors to communicate and travel from great distances, using a type of magic very different from that of your modern Circle or even the Tevinter Imperium.”

“Oh.” I stared at it, then looked back at him. “Is it still usable? She seemed very interested in it.”

“Unfortunately, no. I used it as part of the summoning ritual all those years ago to… well, you know what the end result was there,” Avernus explained. “Since the Veil was torn open all those years ago, and stayed open for so long afterwards, this Eluvian has become corrupted. It would not be safe to use.”

“What are you going to do with it then? If it’s corrupted… even with the Veil mended…”

“Yes, child. I will get Levi and his family to bring it to my Tower. I will tell him to tell his other family that they are merely putting it in storage. In my Tower, it will be safe.” He gave me a knowing smile. “And before you ask, no. I will not use it for any nefarious purposes. That time in my life is finished.”

“I see.”

“But I am guessing that you didn’t just come in here for that. Forgive me, but I felt that magic surge not too long ago. Your anger was very… noticeable,” he said softly.

I sank to my knees, tears running down my cheeks. “I want to hate him… but I can’t. I love him so much… it’s just I can’t take any more of this! It’s going to drive me mad!”

Avernus pulled one of the discarded chairs over and sat down. “I assume this must be something going on with your fellow Grey Warden, then?”

I nodded, then asked. “Were you allowed to love other Grey Wardens back then? Or was it considered a taboo?”

“There was nothing prohibiting us from loving one another, at least not that I was aware of. But unfortunately, we didn’t have much time for anything except fighting for our lives against Arland’s invading troops,” he replied. He was quiet for a moment, then said, “I don’t know if there are rules for you under current circumstances… being a Blight. Did you not ask your Warden-Commander when you joined?”

“I never got the chance.”

“I’m… not sure I’m following. What do you mean you never got to ask? Surely there is more than just the two of you.”

“Not anymore.”

“Then perhaps it is best you explain. How can there be just two Grey Wardens left in all of Ferelden? The Wardens were brought back into Ferelden by Maric about twenty years ago, am I correct? Surely your Warden-Commander and his officers were able to recruit plenty in that time.”

“What do you know about Ostagar…” I began.

 

“Where is Kylara?” Alistair asked. Has anyone seen her? We need to get going.”

“She headed into the Keep about an hour ago, I believe,” Levi said.

“I guess I’d better go and get her then?”

“Alistair?”

“Yes, Leliana?”

“Go easy on her, please.”

He sighed. “I will.”

 

He walked into the Keep, looking in each and every room. _Where the blazes is she?! We need to_ _leave soon so we can start making headway towards Denerim_ _!_ Then he stopped. Took a breath. _Stop._ _Need to calm down. Can’t upset her… especially after_ _seeing what she_ _did_ _to those trees._

He passed the kitchens and made his way to the library. _Not here either?_ He stopped and picked up a fallen chair. He sat down backwards on it, resting his arms against the back of it.

 _Almost two weeks since I was last intimate with her… unless I count what happened a week ago in West Hill. But that was not the same, not even close. Being inside of her, feeling her true passion… I… I miss it. She was right, telling Leliana that I dream of her. I do. Every damn night, she haunts my visions._ _Just look at what happened to me a few days ago! Waking up with spend all over my chest_ _and stomach_ _! That dream had been so…_ _enticingly_ _vivid! I truly felt as though she’d been with me then._

 _I_ _f_ _I am really_ _honest with myself. I was a better man when I was with her… and it is not just_ _because of_ _the sex._ _Does she make me feel good? Yes,_ _of course_ _! But_ _it’s_ _so much_ _more than that!_ _I miss her laugh, her smiles… everything. Leliana is right, I need to fix this. I’ve been moaning and whining about my future_ _and all that will be expected of me_ _… but I_ _know now that I_ _have no future unless she is in it._ _Damn everything else._

Resolved that he had made his decision, he got up, headed to the back of the library, and headed up the flight of stairs into the room where they had saved the Keep from a plague of demons. Then he heard voices. Kylara and… Avernus?

He stopped on the lower level of the room to listen.

 

“So the two of you have really been doing all of this on your own?” Avernus said, surprised, then he chuckled lightly. “Here I thought Sophia and the rest of us had it hard. We were just fighting a tyrant. You’re both trying to save the whole damn country!”

I gave a small smile. “Two lonely Grey Wardens against tens of thousands of darkspawn and an archdemon? What could possibly go wrong?”

 

Alistair had to smile at hearing that. _She’s still trying to keep positive despite all I’ve put her through? She is so amazing._ He sighed. _Why_ _in the void_ _did I ever think I’d be better off without her?_ But what he heard next made his blood freeze.

 

“But I can’t deal with this anymore, Avernus. This constant pain in my heart. I should have never let myself get involved with someone who was going to end up hurting me like this. I should have let it drop the instant he told me he was the heir to the throne. Instead, I stupidly dug myself in deeper.” Tears burned behind my lids.

“You can’t always control love, child.”

“I should never have loved him at all!” I shouted. “We are Grey Wardens. We have one job and that is to stop the Blight. To that end, I should use everything I have in my arsenal. Give me the potion.”

“I thought you wanted me to try and make a better version… one that might not have the negative effects.”

“I don’t care anymore. If the taint is going to kill me anyway, what difference will this make? At least with it, I can go down fighting!”

“Very well,” Avernus said and took the vial out of the pouch on his robe. “If that is what you truly wish…” He handed it to me.

 

Alistair managed to get his legs to move. He ran up the short flight of stairs. “Kylara! NO! Don’t drink that!”

 

Through a haze of tears, I saw Alistair running towards me. He was shouting something, but I couldn’t hear. I held up my hand, throwing up an invisible barrier. I saw him crash up against it. He began beating his fists against it.

“Too late,” I whispered. “You’re too late. “ I uncorked the vial and drank the contents.

Pain wracked my body and I fell to the ground. As I writhed in anguish, I felt power within the pain; power and a hint of understanding.

But the pain! I had not expected such agony! Because I could no longer focus on maintaining the psychic wall, Alistair was able to get to me. He scooped me into his arms and held me. I dimly heard shouting.

 

“Kylara, NO! What have you done?” Alistair rocked me back and forth as I continued to quiver from the pain, tears now running from his own eyes. He glared up at Avernus. “How could you let her drink that vile potion of yours!”

“Do **not** threaten me, boy!” Avernus stood up from the chair, power radiating from his ancient frame. “What she did was her own choice! So if there is any blame to be had for what happens to her now, it is on you! **YOU** were the one who pushed her into this position, not me!” He turned, stalked up the stairs, and out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

 

Dimly my surrounding came back into focus. I was being cradled in warm, strong arms, and for a moment I felt wanted, protected, loved… but then I remembered everything. “Put me down,” I muttered. My voice still a bit fuzzy sounding.

“Kylara? Please tell me you are all right?” I heard Alistair ask.

“’M fine… let go of me now.”

“Why? Why did you drink that… concoction of his?”

I took a deeper breath. “I said, put… me… down… Now!”

Reluctantly, he loosed his hold on me. I pushed myself away from him and tried to stand… but my legs still felt like jelly. I grabbed onto the chair that Avernus had sat on. Slowly I pulled myself up to my knees, using the chair for support. My head was still throbbing.

Alistair got up and then extended his hand out to me. “Please, let me help you.”

I slapped his hand away. “I don’t need your **help**!” I hissed. “Not anymore.”

“Kylara… I’m sorry.”

“Too late for your **sorry**. Too late for everything now.” I finally managed to get myself into a standing position. I breathed deep for a moment, then looked into his shocked and saddened face. “You had chance after chance, but instead of wanting to admit you were wrong and work out our problems, you chose to toy with my emotions. ‘Let’s just be **friends** ,’ you say. One moment, you joke and laugh, then you’re cold and distant. Next, you’re rubbing yourself against me, kissing me, desiring me. THEN you RUN from me! Well, I am sick and tired of it all. After a week and a half of this bullshit, I’ve had enough! What we had was good while it lasted, but I am done. We are done.” I began to stagger away from him, using my staff to help support me.

He caught my hand. Held it tight.

“Let me go, Alistair. I mean it.”

“No.”

I turned back to him. He still held my hand firmly. I tried to pull it from his grasp, but I was still weak from whatever Avernus’s potion was doing to body. “Damn you, Alistair! I said, let me go! I don’t want you… I don’t **need** you anymore!”

“And I said, no. I will not let you go. Never again.”

My eyes narrowed into slits. “You don’t want to make me any angrier, right now. I guarantee you will **not** like the results.”

Reluctantly, he let go of my hand. “Kylara, you have every right to be angry at me. I was a fool. A total ass, the way I treated you.”

“Yes, you were.” I turned back and began slowly making my way to the stairs that would lead out. A few steps of his, however, was all it took for him to catch up to my slow gait.

“Please, Kylara. Tell me. What I can do to fix this?”

I gave a short, mirthless laugh. “ **Fix**? You think you can fix something you’ve irreparably broken? Just have it magically become better now with an ‘I’m sorry, I promise I won’t do that again’ from you? No. What’s done is done. Now leave me alone. I am finished talking to you.” I walked down the short flight of stairs and through the door that lead to the library. Seeing that he was no longer following me, I let the door shut behind me.

 

After the door closed, Alistair clenched his hands into fists. “I am not giving this up, Kylara,” he said softly. “I really messed this up, but I will find a way to get you back into my life. Somehow, I will find a way to earn your forgiveness.” He sat down on the steps and sighed. “I made excuse after excuse to justify my behavior. When all this time, I was just afraid to admit the truth to myself. That no matter what happens in my life, it will have no meaning without you.”

 

I was looking with trepidation at they icy stairs leading down. My body was still so weak. _Side effects? He made no mention that his potion was going to hit me this hard._ _Is it going to make me feel like this from now on? If so, perhaps I was rather foolish to take it… though I’ll never admit that to Alistair._

It was as if merely thinking his name brought him out, though I knew it was just timing.

“Do you need help down?” he asked.

I seethed inside. _Stop being so… insufferably_ _ **nice**_ _now!_ “I’m… fine.” But the minute I put my staff down on the first step, it slipped. I almost lost my balance, but Alistair caught my elbow and waist to steady me.

“It’s clear you need help, Kylara. I don’t know what his potion has done to you, but you are weak right now. Please, let me help you down.”

I could feel my steel resolve start to weaken slightly. I tried to clamp it back down. _No! Remember the hurt he caused you! Don’t give in… don’t…_ I sighed, “Fine,” I grumbled.

He put his arm around my waist and we slowly made our way down the stairs. Once we got to the bottom, I pulled from his grasp and started hobbling away.

He walked quickly to catch up again. “Kylara, would you please tell me… why did you drink that awful stuff?”

“Why do you suddenly care about what I do with my life now? You haven’t cared for quite some time now!”

“That’s just it though. I did care.”

I stopped and stared at him, disbelief on my face. “You sure had a funny way of showing it then.”

“All right, yes. I get it. I fucked up. Big time. It’s just that I - ”

He stopped abruptly when he saw Leliana walking towards us. I gripped his arm for a brief moment. “Don’t you dare tell them I took Avernus’s potion!”

“You think they aren’t going to notice that something is wrong with you? You are as pale as the surrounding snow!”

“I’m just tired!”

“Riiight.”

“I mean it, Alistair! Say nothing!” I let go of his arm and attempted to stand up straight.

“Fine, I won’t. **You’ll** tell them when they start asking questions.”

“There you both are!” Leliana said as she approached. “Come on now, the rest of the group is waiting.”

“All right,” Alistair said. “I’ll go on. You two can catch up, all right?”

So he went on ahead, leaving me behind with Leliana. She looked at me with concern on her face. “Everything all right? You look a bit… pale.”

“I’m fine, Leliana.” I took a deep breath of the cold mountain air and let it out slowly. We then began walking down to the base camp together. “So… Was it you that sent him after me?”

“Why, no. He volunteered.”

“He did, hmm? Well, wonders never cease.”

“I did have a talk with him beforehand, however.”

“I see. So you gave him some words of wisdom that finally made him realize just how much of an ass he’s been to me?”

“I think he always knew, dear. He just had a hard time expressing it.”

I scoffed. “Well, **that** is bloody obvious!”

“Are the two of you going to work it out now?”

“No.”

Leliana stopped cold. “What?!”

I turned to face her. “I said, no. I am done with him. I am tired of the hurt… tired of the pain. He had dozens of chances to work it out with me and he didn’t. So we are going to do our duty as Wardens… end this Blight, if we can. Then I’m going my own way and he can go on and be King.”

“No, I will not accept this!”

“What?”

“You two belong together!” she exclaimed.

“Why? Just because we are the last two Grey Wardens in Ferelden? That automatically means we are a couple?” I briefly thought of the kiss I’d shared with Leli at the bathhouse. “I mean, what if I didn’t like men?”

She shook her head. “Oh, you definitely prefer them, Kylara… that much is clear.” She gave me a sly smile which immediately made me realize she was thinking of the bathhouse incident too. “Yes. Even when you thought you were… _ahem,_ ‘giving your all’, it was very clear to me that your heart wasn’t in it… and I should know.”

“But aren’t you currently sleeping with Zev?”

“Yes.” She shrugged. “Truth is, I like both men and women.”

 _That’s true,_ I thought, _there was that woman she had slept with in Rainesfere._

Leli continued, snapping me out of my momentary rumination. “But do not change the subject. This isn’t about me. This is about you and Alistair.”

“Why are you so determined to get us back together?”

“What I do with Zev… it isn’t love, it’s just sex. But with you and Alistair… that was love.”

“What makes you so sure it wasn’t just sex with us too?” I replied in a huff.

She shook her head and placed her hand on my arm. “Kylara, I know because there is far more between the two of you than just physical attraction. He looks out for you. You look out for him. You have each other’s backs. But when you aren’t fighting? It’s the way I’ve seen him comfort you when you have a darkspawn nightmare. It’s the looks I’ve seen you give each other when you thought no one else was watching. It’s a tender touch, a caress. It’s the jokes you share. It’s laughter and fun. It’s a dance that you shared in camp. There is pure joie de vivre between you both… and it is your eyes. His and yours. The way they glow when you stare at each other. Your eyes don’t lie.”

 _Well now, that does give me something to think on…_ I was silent for a moment and then shook my head. “No, Leli. I can’t do it. I forgave him once already. But instead of wanting to talk and work through it afterwards, he decided to keep pushing me away! It hurt more than you can imagine and I don’t want to ever go through that kind of pain again.”

“What makes you certain it will happen again?”

“He’s going to be King, Leliana! If I get back together with him, he will just have to break it off with me again once he takes the crown! I am a commoner… a mage! He pointed this out when we had our fight! I can’t marry him, and I would never be content to just be ‘on the side’ as a mistress… even though I had once toyed with the idea! Then I thought I could stay as an advisor to him, but again, knowing he’d be sleeping with someone else – knowing what we’d once had together – it would just kill me!”

“He could still give the crown to Anora, you know.”

“You and I know that even though he’s reluctant about this, he wouldn’t be happy knowing the daughter of his enemy is still in power. Now please, I don’t want to talk about this anymore!” I begged. “Let’s just get going. We still have at least three days before we arrive in Denerim.” I walked, albeit slow and stiff, down to where everyone was waiting.

 _I will not accept this,_ Leliana thought as she also headed down. _There must be a way to keep them together!_

 

Mounting my mare had been a bit of an issue, due to my still weak state. I had tried to not make a big deal out of it in front of the rest of the group, again claiming I was just tired, though I noticed Morrigan looking at me intently.

Alistair ended up having to help me, which had me conflicted all over again. I wanted to keep my heart cold, but having him be so… tender and caring. It was chipping away at my barrier.

For the next several hours we made our way down the mountain trail from Soldier’s Peak. Fortunately, Levi and his family had made the tunnels through the mountain wide and tall enough for us to stay mounted the entire time. If I had had to dismount and mount my horse constantly, I knew I would have had problems. As it was, I could barely focus on guiding her. It was a good thing she was sure-footed and calmly followed the horses in front of her.

 _What is this potion doing to me? I thought that the weakness would have passed by now… but my head is still throbbing,_ _my vision blurring_ _._ I shivered, then put my hand to my forehead quickly, trying to make it look like I was just shielding my eyes from the sun. _Fever. Not a good sign. I can’t pass this off as tiredness now. Wynne is a healer. She is going to notice once we break for camp. Best I can hope for is to try and pass it off as a regular illness._

Winston, who had been walking next to me, whined.

“I’m… all right, boy,” I said softly to him.

He whined again, clearly saying, _No, you are not._

We reached the main road as the sun was starting to go down. The temperature dropping rapidly now. It had been cold and snowy on the mountain, but here at the base, there was no snow yet.

 _It had been mid-Solace_ **31**   _when I had left the Circle with Duncan, so we had to be in Harvestmere by now,_ I thought. _Snow would be coming_ _to the northern part of Ferelden_ _soon._

“Let’s try to push on a bit further,” I heard Alistair say. “I know we got a bit of a late start this morning, so I’d like to see if we can make just a bit more headway towards Denerim before we break for camp.”

I nodded, even as my teeth chattered. I turned my mare to follow the rest, the setting sun now at my back.

“Hey, ah, Warden?” I glanced down and saw a short man with bright red hair and a beard. I blinked. _Can’t… focus. Who… is he again? Someone I know, right?_ “Y’know, you’re looking a bit peakèd there.”

“I… I’m…” Nothing more came out. I felt myself sliding from the saddle of my mare as blackness took me.

 

Dimly, I could hear voices as I slid in and out of consciousness.

“Morrigan, please dry these herbs for me! Hurry!”

“Maker! She’s sweating blood!”

“C’mon, Kylara! You need to wake up!”

“What in Andraste’s name is happening to her?!”

“This must have something to do with that creepy old magician, yes?”

“Please, everyone! Back off and let me see her!”

“Where did she put that book of Avernus’s?”

The last voice I recognized as Morrigan’s. I managed to gasp out, “My… pack,” before darkness took me again.

 

When I next came to, someone was holding me and trying to get me to drink a bitter decoction. I weakly tried to push it away.

“C’mon, love. You need to drink this. Wynne says it’ll help bring down your fever.” He put it to my lips. I took a sip and made a horrible face at the awful taste. “That’s it,” the voice encouraged. “Okay, once more…”

The voice kept urging me to drink, so I did… eventually getting used to the bitterness. Then there was no more.

“Sleep now, love. I’m here. I’ll watch over you.”

I drifted off… but this time peacefully.

 

Alistair breathed a sigh of relief. The medicine Wynne had given him seemed to be working as Kylara was sleeping quietly now. Hours had passed since Oghren’s shout had alerted him about what had happened. It was sometime in the middle of the night now.

A head poked into his tent. “How is she, Alistair?”

“Sleeping, Wynne. Thank you.”

“You sure you don’t want someone else to watch her for a while? Let you get some rest yourself?”

“I’ll be all right. I can sleep when I know she’s better.”

“If you’re sure, then?”

He nodded.

“All right. Just call if you need me, my tent is right next to yours.”

“Thank you, Wynne.”

She withdrew and the tent flaps closed. Alistair sighed and stroked Kylara’s head and hair.

“Oh… Why did you have to drink that terrible stuff, Kylara! Look at what it has done to you! I know Avernus said it’s my fault – that I drove you to this… and I probably – no. I know I did. I was selfish. I was only thinking of what was going to happen to me once we are done with the treaties and the Landsmeet. **Me** , being King. **Me** , impressing the nobles. **Me,** worried about what Eamon… and to some extent, even Teagan, would think if they found out that we were still together. But you know what? I don’t care what they think anymore, and I never should have in the first place. I was a fool.

“Well, I will say this, here and now. **We** are going to work together again… as a team. **We** are going to find a way to stop the Blight… And hopefully, someday, **we** will be together again… if I can just find a way to have you to trust and believe in me. I will not let you down again! I love you, Kylara… and I always will.”

He gave Kylara’s hand a squeeze and then noticed the moisture on her cheeks. At first, he thought they were her tears, but it only took him a moment to realize they were his own.

 

The morning arrived cold and grey with moisture in the air. Morrigan stepped out of her tent and shivered. _‘Tis likely to snow today. Never thought I’d miss the warmth of my mo- Flemeth’s hut.’Twas_ _far_ _colder down south at this time of year, but I had adequate shelter,_ _and trees to block the wind_ _._ She sighed and rubbed her bare arms. _As long as we are traveling,_ _I suppose I’ll have to get something warmer to wear once we reach Denerim._

She ducked back into her tent for a moment, retrieving Avernus’s journal. The man had some very interesting notes about the work he had done. _If I get a chance, I might head back over to his Tower to have a chat with him._ Just then she saw Alistair come out of the tent where Kylara was resting.

“Morrigan! I can’t get her to wake! I’ve tried everything I can think of, but she’s just lying there!”

“Let me see her. You might want to get Wynne too… just in case.”

Panic was in his voice, “Just in case, what?”

“Just go get her, please. I’ll take a look.”

After Alistair left, she opened the tent flaps where Kylara was laying. Morrigan could see her breathing was shallow. She knelt down and peeled back an eyelid. Only the white was visible. She let the eyelid close. She brought out the journal again and opened it to near the back. _Alistair said she took th_ _e potion_ _yesterday morning… Hmm, I wonder if there was to be another step, but because he yelled at Avernus… The book mentions at one point that the blood is the key. That’s_ _the potion and her own tainted blood. “Electricity is the catalyst,” he mentioned. Could it be that is what is missing?_

Wynne came up at that moment. “What’s wrong with her?” she asked.

“I think that a step was skipped yesterday… on purpose.”

“On purpose?! Whatever for? What did she do to deserve that?” Wynne exclaimed.

“’Tis not what she did, but rather, Alistair,” Morrigan explained.

Wynne tsked. “Now, Morrigan, I know you and Alistair don’t get along, but- ”

Morrigan cut her off. “Alistair yelled at Avernus yesterday after she took the potion. He told me as much when I asked him about this yesterday. He also said that Avernus stormed off, saying that whatever happened to Kylara was on him now.”

“But why punish her?!”

“To that end, I don’t know. It could be that Avernus didn’t like being shouted at. But I think I might know how to ‘fix’ this.”

“How?”

“His journal mentions electricity. I think I need to… shock her.”

“Is that wise? Too strong and there is the possibility that you could hurt her worse.”

“’Tis why I asked Alistair to get you. You can… monitor, yes? Sense if I am doing not enough, or too much?”

“I-I think so. Yes. I should be able to do that.”

“I will start with a short pulse. I don’t know how much might be needed. The journal doesn’t say. Hopefully, one good jolt might be all we need.”

Wynne focused energy in her right hand and held it close to Kylara’s head. She nodded at Morrigan, who placed both her hands on Kylara’s chest. Lightning crackled and her body jerked in reaction.

 

Unbeknownst to Morrigan, Wynne, (or myself, had I even been awake to understand) the electricity from Morrigan’s spell finally helped the potion bond with my tainted blood. It was no longer fighting against me; poisoning me. However, since it had been in my system for so long without the catalyst that Morrigan had figured out, the damage was already done…

 

With a gasping breath and a cough, I awoke with a start. I slowly sat up. “Ooohh… my aching head,” I moaned. Then I glanced up to see a relieved Wynne with tears in her eyes and a hint of a smile on Morrigan’s face. “What’s going on?”

Just then Alistair poked his head in the tent. “Maker’s Breath! You’re awake! I was so worried about you!”

“Alistair, there is not enough room in this tent for four!” Morrigan said in a raised tone. “’Tis barely room in here for us three. You may come back later.”

I looked up at his worried face for a moment, then turned away. “I don’t want him to come back.” I then chanced a glance up through my eyelashes just in time to catch his upset expression before he withdrew his head from the tent.

“Was that really necessary, Kylara?” Wynne asked. “He stayed up all night, watching over you.”

“H-he did?” I stared at the ground and whispered, “But why?” I wiped a tear that had started. “Why is he being so… nice to me now! After all that has happened with us these last two weeks?!”

“Perhaps it’s his way of apologizing to you?” Wynne answered. “I know you both haven’t had it easy since we returned from our duty at Ostagar. What was meant to help us all put it behind us, instead caused new problems for the both of you. I’d still like to say that I think it’s a good thing, what the two of you have.”

“Had, Wynne. I… can’t do this. I can’t get back with him! I don’t want to deal with this hurt anymore!”

“Whatever do you mean, Kylara?”

“Sorry, Wynne,” Morrigan spoke quietly. “Can you discuss this with her later? I have something I need to talk with her in private, please.”

Wynne nodded. “Come and find me later, Kylara… if you wish.” She slowly got up and left the tent.

As soon as the flaps closed, a hard slap landed on my cheek! I stared at Morrigan in surprise. “’Twas stupid of you for taking an unknown potion! Especially when you had already asked Avernus to make a better version! You are damned lucky you had his journal and I was able to figure out what was missing! Otherwise… you very well may have… died.”

“But… I - ”

“I know why you did it. ‘Twas equally stupid! Trying to impress that fool, Alistair!”

“I wasn’t trying to impress him! He’s been making me miserable for almost two weeks! I was - ”

Again, she cut me off. “I am not blind. I have seen and know what has been going on betwixt you both. But nevertheless, you were still trying to impress him. ‘I am tough’ and ‘I can do this without you’. But how you did it, by taking this unknown potion of Avernus’s…” She sighed. “Kylara, you know I consider you not only my friend but also as the sister I never had. If anything were to happen to you…”

“There is still the Blight that we have to deal with,” I replied softly.

“Yes, darkspawn could kill you in battle… ‘Tis true that they could even kill me in battle. I am no immortal. But my point is, you could have very well hastened your own demise by taking this potion! Avernus warned that it could quicken the taint in your blood. So what if… instead of thirty years – and don’t look at me like it was some big secret. I overhead Alistair mention it to Wynne long ago.” She shook her head briefly and then continued, “As I was saying, what if instead of your thirty years, you now only have ten… or even five? ‘Twas it truly worth it? Just to prove to that fool that you don’t need his help?”

That really did make me think. And remembering how sick the potion had made me? Was I going to feel like that again when the end came? _I really may have made a big mistake…_ But then I shook my head. “Whether I have cut my life shorter or not doesn’t matter anymore. I can’t have what I truly had wanted…”

“So you **do** still want him.”

“Yes… I mean, no!” I heaved a sigh and mumbled, “Dammit, I don’t know what I want anymore!”

Morrigan stared at me in silence for a moment. Then she was about to say something when Alistair poked his head back into the tent again. She glared at him.

He wilted under Morrigan’s gaze. “Look, I’m really sorry to interrupt again, but there are heavy clouds to the south. We really need to leave soon and try to find shelter somewhere, or we are going to get caught in a nasty storm. One that I don’t think our tents would provide adequate shelter from.”

“’Twould be an idea to head back to Soldier’s Peak, perhaps?” Morrigan finally replied since I refused to look at him.

“Even though we are closer to the Keep than Denerim, the weather could turn far worse up there… and with those switchbacks on the trail...” he said in a quiet tone. “No, our best bet is to hurry east. There will be more farms once we get closer to Denerim, and we can likely seek shelter with someone along the way.”

“Very well. We are coming.”

He nodded and then left.

 

We got everything packed in a hurry. Winston bounded up to me, making happy barks at seeing me well again. I glanced around after giving him a good belly rub. Alistair had been right. Though there was weak mid-morning sunshine to the east, there were indeed heavy clouds moving up from the south. From the moisture I could feel in the air, it was going to be a very large storm. I hoped he was right about the farms.

I could see Morrigan shiver, though she tried not to show that she was cold. I ran back to the cart and brought out a blanket to give her. She nodded in thanks and wrapped it around her body, using a binding spell to keep it in place.

Though I was still a little weak, I was able to get onto my mare’s back. We then set off in a trot, rather than a walk. I supposed I should have been grateful that Alistair had taken the time to show me how to handle the trot comfortably… but instead, it just made me sullen and moody.

We did have to occasionally slow the horses back down to a walk, so as not to tire them out before we reached any potential shelter. Hopefully, we’d find something soon, as the sky had grown dark and heavy with the clouds. The wind was bitingly cold. I could see Zevran and Leliana also shivering now through their leather armor.

I was cold too, but my robe was very well made, and it kept me warm enough. Unfortunately, the wind whipped through my hair, blowing into my face constantly. The next time we slowed the horses to a walk, I pulled it behind my head and tied it into a messy knot.

After a few hours, we finally started approaching some of the outlying farms. To our dismay, the first few we saw had been destroyed. Two of the homes had been burned to the ground. The third the doors ripped off its hinges and the windows smashed.

Alistair had stopped at the third home. Leliana pulled up next to him. I was close enough to hear.

“Did the darkspawn do this?” I heard her ask him.

Alistair shook his head. “There is no evidence of Taint in the land here. I’d say, bandits, most likely. Word is that Arl Howe, who is supposed to be responsible for these lands, has abandoned them when he went to Denerim to support Loghain. And that was after he pulled a coup in Highever! He and his men killed the teryn, teryna, their entire family and household – save for the eldest son!”

“Where did you hear all of this?” she asked as Sten and Zevran both came closer to listen in as well.

“While we were in West Hill. The farmer I had assisted spoke of little else, even though this had happened months ago. I also heard it from several people in the Chantry there the following day,” Alistair replied. “The only reason the eldest son wasn’t killed by Howe’s men was due to the fact that he had taken a contingency of the Cousland soldiers down to Ostagar. However, no one has heard from Fergus since… so he may have been another casualty from Loghain’s betrayal.” Alistair glowered. “I remember passing through Highever with Duncan right after my Joining when we were on the search for possible recruits. Duncan had thought that the younger Cousland daughter, Gwendolyn, and the knight Ser Roland were potential candidates. But then Duncan was called back to Denerim by King Cailan. By the time we were able to head back in that direction – about a month before Ostagar – we’d heard that the family was dead. At the time, we just didn’t know how it had happened.”

I flinched at that news. An entire noble family murdered because of greed. I wondered what this Gwendolyn had been like. If she had lived and also survived the Joining… What would it have been like, having another woman in the Wardens? _Would she and I have gotten along? She was a nobleman’s daughter. I am a mage who grew up with nothing._

Then another more disturbing thought came into my head. _I don’t even remember my parents. I was eight when I came to the Circle! You’d think I’d have some memory… some recollection of a family… but I don’t. I wonder why? Odd how I haven’t thought about it before._ I decided then that once this Blight was over, I’d try to find some time to dig into my past.

So absorbed I was in my own thoughts, I missed what Alistair had said afterwards. We were now moving again. I quickly rode to catch up to Leliana.

“What’s going on now? We can’t stay at this house?”

“No. With no door and no windows, we’d have no more protection from the storm than if we’d stayed in the tents,” she said. “Alistair thinks we should try for Howe’s estate, Vigil’s Keep. Since Howe is in Denerim, perhaps we can convince his staff to let us stay there for the duration of the storm. There is also likely to be adequate shelter for the horses there too.”

“But wouldn’t someone report that to Howe? Since we are on Loghain’s hit-list, I’d think that wouldn’t make us popular with Howe either,” I replied.

“Alistair hopes that perhaps we can bribe them with gold.”

“Ah,” was all I could say in reply.

Just then, big, thick flakes of snow began to come down from the sky.

“Hurry!” I heard Alistair call out from ahead. “Howe’s estate shouldn’t be much further!”

 

About fifteen minutes later, we were getting the horses all secured into a run-down stable. It was drafty in there due to large gaps in the roof and walls, but it would keep the worst of the weather off of the horses.

While Alistair went to search for some non-moldy hay for the horses and mule to eat, then rest of us rubbed them down. I then found some blankets in a corner of the stable and passed them out to everyone. Once we had the blankets tied onto their backs, and Alistair had found enough fodder and water for them for the time being, we left the stables. We headed to the main door of the keep.

Alistair banged on the door for a few moments, but no one came to answer. Just as we were thinking we’d have to stay in the stables with the horses, he tried the door handle. To his surprise, it opened right up.

“Hello?” he called out. It echoed in the cold and dark interior. “Anyone here?” That call also echoed around. Then he turned to us. “Should we go on in?”

“So as long as we’re armed, my friend,” Zevran smirked. “Just in case an ambush lies within, of course.”

We entered the keep, and after closing the doors, placed our packs near them. We kept our weapons close at hand, per Zevran’s thought.

“Kylara, could you please cast your light spell?” Alistair asked me politely.

I sighed and muttered the spell, then I tossed it up. The hall was so vast it didn’t provide much illumination. “Meudachadh ann am meud.” <Increase in size.> The light orb grew and we could then clearly see that the main hall was truly empty. The hearths were cold. All was dark and quiet.

“Be cautious,” Wynne said in a hushed voice. “Just because this hall is empty, doesn’t mean the whole of the keep is as well.”

As everyone began to discuss what we should do next, I summoned another light sphere for myself. I wandered over to the bookshelves lining the walls to see if there was anything interesting.

“Kylara?” I heard Alistair call out. I turned away from the bookshelves to look at him. “Can you summon more of those light spheres for us?”

“Why?” I asked, curious.

“We are going to split us up into teams of two to cover as much ground as possible… See if there is anyone here at all.”

“We are? Oh. I guess that makes sense.” I extinguished my individual light and then pointed at the large sphere in the center of the ceiling. “Roinn ann an còig pìosan.” <Divide into five pieces.> Part of the large globe broke off and split into five smaller ones. They hovered near each group of two. It was then that I noticed that I was paired up with Alistair. _Figures. That’s what I get for not paying attention._ _Well, how bad could it be? We are just searching the keep after all._ _Right?_ I faced my friends. “Since not all of you are mages, if you need to put out the light temporarily, say ‘extinguish’. To bring it back, just say, ‘return’. All right?” Everyone nodded, except Wynne and Morrigan, who just smiled gently.

After everyone had gotten their specific locations to start in and left, Alistair and I stood alone in the great hall of the keep.

“So, now what?” he asked, looking a bit nervous.

“If you mean, do I now fall into your arms and start ravishing you because I am desperate for affection again… no.” I was actually surprised to see the disappointed look on his face and gave him a glare. “Really, Alistair. I think I’ve made it pretty clear that we are done. You made your decision when you hurt and ignored me. When you ran out on me instead of discussing what had happened between us. I’ve had enough. We do our part and explore the keep and then meet back up with everyone else. That is it.”

“Very well,” he said. But just before I walked off, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. “However, we are not done with this. I told you back at Soldier’s Peak, I am not letting you go. I will find a way to earn your trust… and your love again.”

“Yeah?” I looked at him, trying to show my incredulity, but faltered slightly at the determined look in his eyes. I turned away quickly and muttered, “Good luck with that.”

I pulled my arm away from his grip and walked off. He quickly followed me. We checked room after room. Everything was empty, quiet… abandoned. Our last stop was the kitchens. Just like the rest of the keep we’d explored, it too was empty.

“Well, I suppose that explains how those farms were raided by bandits,” I said. “With no one here at the keep, no soldiers patrolling the roads to keep everyone in his arling safe…” I sighed with disgust. “Howe is deplorable! He raids Highever, kills the teryn and his family! Then he abandons not only that but his **own** property, just to run to Loghain in Denerim. Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s mucking things up in that city too!”

“We will find out in a couple of days, once we reach the city,” Alistair replied.

“Hmm,” I nodded, then said, “We should check the larder. See if there is anything we can salvage and eat. Otherwise, I’ll have back out to the stable and check the cart… and it is- ” I was cut off abruptly when Alistair slid a hand over my mouth and pulled me into the nearby pantry. He used his foot to shut the door.

I pulled his hand away from my face. “What in the void do you think you are doing?” I hissed under my breath.

“Shh!”

The pantry door was wood, but with enough gaps between each plank that we were able to hear (and to some extent, see) what had startled Alistair. We heard two people come into the kitchen. “Extinguish,” I murmured quickly, putting out the light.

“I’m telling you, Serian. There is someone here, in the castle! I keep hearing noises I’ve never heard before!” A pale elf with short blonde hair briefly came into view of one of the gaps in the pantry door, before quickly disappearing from sight again. “What are we gonna do?! The Master will be so angry if he finds out if someone got in his home!”

“Arilwyn, calm down!” Now I saw another elf pass by the gap in the door, his brown hair pulled back and tied in a small queue. “I’m sure it’s just your imagination. The doors are secured and there is a blizzard going on outside now. There is no one here!”

“But what if someone came in seeking shelter from the cold?” the female elf, Arilwyn, said. “I-I think I might have forgotten to lock the front door this morning…”

“Wait… You what?” Now the male elf began to panic. “Oh, this… This is bad. W-we should probably get to the armory… get some weapons. J-just in case, of course!”

“The Master would flay us alive if he knew we touched his fine swords and daggers!”

“Would you rather us get killed? If there is someone here…” Serian gulped audibly. “B-besides, I won’t tell him. Neither will you!”

“I’m going out there,” Alistair whispered in my ear. His warm breath near my neck made me shudder slightly, but I was hoping he didn’t notice. “The last thing we need is panicked servants with weapons.”

Before I could protest, he very carefully opened the pantry door. Both elf servants whirled around in shock and surprise. “Shem!” the female elf squeaked in fright.

Alistair immediately dropped to one knee, lay his sword on the ground in front of him, and held his hands out in a non-threatening gesture. “Please, don’t be afraid,” he said to them. “We were only seeking shelter from the storm. We were not aware that there was anyone else here.”

I stepped out of the pantry as well and mimicked Alistair’s gesture, laying my staff on the ground as well. “We apologize if we startled you both. But we were on our way to Denerim when the storm hit.” I gave a sideways glance at Alistair and saw him giving me the barest nod of his head. “Please let us stay until it is safe to travel again. Then we will all leave. We promise.”

“Why were you both hiding in the Master’s pantry?”

“Actually, you startled us as well. Seeing all the other rooms empty, we assumed no one was here,” I said.

“Yet, you are armed.” _This elf servant_ _is_ _very sharp_ , I noted.

“We wanted to be cautious. With the front door open, we were unsure if bandits might have broken in,” Alistair replied.

Serian seemed to think about that for a moment, then said, “You speak as though there are more of you. How many are here besides you two?”

“Besides myself and this man here, there are three other human women. We also have a male elf, a male dwarf, a male Qunari, a dog, and a golem in the group. We were hoping to just make a camp in the great hall. No other rooms will be disturbed.”

“So many? And you are all going to Denerim?” Serian’s eyes narrowed. “Why come here? Why not another homestead along the way?”

“All the farms we passed have been looted and destroyed by bandits,” I replied.

“See, I knew it was wrong, our Master taking everyone with him! With none of his soldiers to protect the roads…” Arilwyn whispered loudly to Serian. “Those poor farmers!”

“Ari!” Serian whirled to face her. “We do not speak against the Master’s decisions! He is important! He does what he must do for the good of… the good…” he trailed off as he saw tears run down his companion’s face.

“B-but he… left us here… alone,” she said softly in reply.

“I am sure it is because he wanted us to keep the place secure while he is in Denerim, serving King Loghain!”

“I don’t know if that is so,” Arilwyn said quietly.

“So, it is just the two of you here?” I asked, keeping my voice calm.

Arilwyn nodded.

“The Master trusted us to keep his castle safe from intruders!” Serian paced back and forth. “If we let you stay here and he finds out…”

“How would he find out? We will disturb nothing and we will clean up when we leave,” I said.

Arilwyn wrung her hands with worry. “Our Master is very smart. He will find out and then we will be punished! Seri is right! You need to leave… now!”

I now knew of Howe’s aggressive nature and brutal tactics; that had been made very clear by what Alistair had told us about Highever. However, I had to make it seem like we knew nothing of the arl. “He would punish you for offering shelter to travelers in a storm?”

She was so quiet, I almost didn’t hear what Arilwyn said to us. “Our Master isn’t known for… hospitality.”

Serian, however, did hear her. He turned pale. “What Ari says is true…”

Now I was becoming very concerned about the welfare of these two elves. “What would happen?” When they both clammed up, it made me even more afraid for them. “Please,” I said softly. “I know you have no reason to trust two complete strangers, but I… want to help… If I can.”

“How?” Ari whispered. “He is our Master. He owns us.” Her large violet eyes filled with tears again. “We can’t leave here. If we did, he’d find us, I know it!”

I stopped to think for a bit. Then I gave a small smile. “What if you went somewhere that he wasn’t aware existed?”

“Are you thinking what I am?” Alistair gave his own smile. I nodded at him.

“I don’t understand,” Serian said.

“There is a fortress up on a mountain… about two days walk west of here. The reason it is unknown is that the road leading to it was only recently uncovered. We have a friend up at that fortress, a man by the name of Levi Dryden. He and his family are helping us restore it. We would be happy to write a letter to him so that he would know who you are. If you are willing to also help his family with the restoration, we will be more than happy to pay you for your efforts.”

Both elves looked confused. Finally, Seri said, “Pay? Why? We are servants.”

“Our Master says we should just be grateful that we have the privilege to work for someone as rich and powerful as him,” Ari recited what had obviously been drilled into her mind.

Now Alistair actually looked angry. “He doesn’t pay you?! My mother was a serving girl at Redcliffe castle and before she died, I know Arl Eamon paid her. He paid all of his servants, no matter if they were elf or human! You should be treated with the dignity and respect you deserve for what you do! If you work, you should get paid for it!”

Arilwyn and Serian glanced at each other. Clearly, they had never had anyone stand up for them before. Then he said, “We… should be loyal to our Master… but perhaps we could… No, no we really oughtn’t - ” He looked at Ari again and then gently took her hand and sighed. He looked me earnestly in the eyes. “Can you promise our safety? Yes, and we will trust you because you actually seem to be good humans. But if the answer is no, then we stay here… and you and the rest of your group leave the castle right now.”

I saw Alistair nod at me. So I took a deep breath and then said, “Let us stay here until the storm passes and we will help you in return. It will be a tough journey for you both, but we will give you directions, and whatever warm clothing and blankets we can spare for it. I will also write that letter for Levi and provide you with some gold as well. Will that suffice?”

The light of hope that I saw spring up in Arilwyn’s eyes also seemed to put Serian at ease. “Very well,” he replied. “We will trust you. You may stay. We,” he indicated himself and Ari, “will fetch what food is still available. There is wood in the lean-to behind the kitchens if you want to start a fire in the great hall hearth. We will meet you back there shortly.” The two of them bowed and then left the kitchen.

 

We made our way back to the great hall and met up with everyone. Alistair told them of our conversation with the two frightened elf servants.

“So, bottom line, we need to make them feel comfortable and at ease. Then once the storm passes, we will help them escape Howe’s cruel tyranny over them.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Then Alistair, Sten, and Zevran all left together to retrieve the wood from the lean-to. Soon, we had a warm and toasty fire going in the main hearth.

It was an unusual setup. There was no flue, no chimney for the smoke. Instead, it was a large shallow stone and metal pit about two meters across in diameter. Because the great hall was so large the smoke and fumes from the fire just went straight up to the high ceiling and dissipated through cracks and fissures in the roof. But this set up also helped to warm the large room very quickly.

Once Arilwyn and Serian returned with some hard cheese, dried fruits, and dried meats, we all sat around the large bonfire and ate. Ari and Seri were very surprised when I offered them the first choice of the food before serving the rest of the party. I also encouraged them to eat as much as they could since they would need the energy for their trip up to Soldier’s Peak.

“No human has ever been so kind to us before,” Ari spoke with tears in her eyes again. “I am glad we chose to trust you.”

After we ate, Leliana sang an old elvish tune, which made Ari cry again, but Seri comforted her.

Once we were ready to settle down, I went into one of the abandoned bedrooms and retrieved a comforter and pillows for the elves to sleep on. At first, they were very fearful of using something that belonged to their ‘Master’. But I reassured them that I would return everything to its proper place before we left. Bundled up in the warm blankets, it didn’t take long before they were both fast asleep.

I then retreated to my own bedroll, which was on the opposite side of the fire-pit from Alistair’s. I saw him stare at me, a slight sadness in his eyes. _Reminds me of how I was_ _a while back when I was pining for you. Well, Alistair, you made your bed and now you lie in it… alone._ I lay down and faced away from him.

 

No matter how hard I tried, sleep would not come for me. I tossed and turned. I sat up and glanced around the hall. Everyone else was sound asleep. _Perhaps a walk will help me get sleepy,_ I thought. I silently got up from my bedroll and walked off. Soon I found myself facing a door to a room that Alistair and I had not explored. I opened the door slowly, so as not to make any noise. Then I slipped inside and closed it behind me.

I summoned my glowing orb to better see. It was a grand bedroom. It was certainly not Arl Howe’s, as it looked too feminine. _Perhaps his wife’s?_ Though the room was clean, there was an air of disuse to it. _Hadn’t_ _I heard somewhere that Howe’s wife had died? Suppose that may explain this room no longer being used._ I sat down on the edge of the bed.

It was cold in this room compared to the great hall. I shivered, then pointed at the hearth of the fireplace in the room. “Tòisich air teine.” <Start a fire.> The magic flames glowed a soft blue color. It wouldn’t burn as hot as normal fire, but at least it took the chill out of the room.

 _What_ _am I doing?_ I sighed as I stared at the flames. _I thought I’d be happier now that I’m without him… but I’m even more miserable than I was before._ _Have I_ _become so dependent?_ I felt the crystal necklace that rested on my chest. It wasn’t as cold as it had been when we had fought, but it was still cool, and there was still no shine from it. I had tried to remove it a few times, but the stubborn clasp refused to come loose.

As I sat there on the bed, I tried one more time, but as before, it still wouldn’t come undone.

“So yours will not come off either, hmm? Interesting…”

I whirled around to see Alistair standing on the other side of the bed. _I hadn’t even heard him come in!_ I turned back to face the fire so he couldn’t read my face. “What do you want, Alistair?”

“I’m here because I couldn’t sleep any more than you, apparently.” He came around to the side of the bed where I was and sat down next to me.

“You tried removing your crystal necklace?” I asked. I tried to keep my voice from wavering.

“Only once. It was right after we… fought.” He stared at the floor. “When it wouldn’t come off, I just left it alone. Having the cold of it stinging me constantly really made me realize it was trying to tell me something… yet I kept stubbornly kept trying to refuse its wisdom.” He looked up at me and put his hand on my thigh. “I miss you, Kylara. I miss what we had. Is there any way I can convince you that I made a mistake and I really want you back in my life?”

“And how would we make it work between us? Need I remind you what you said to me about two weeks ago? ‘I’m going to be King… and you? You’re just a commoner. A mere mage’.” My hands clenched into fists. “I… can’t. I can’t be there at the palace with you… knowing you’d be married to someone else, loving someone else.”

“But I don’t love anyone else,” he replied. “I love **you**.”

I shifted away from him. “You know damn well what I mean, Alistair. You’d have to do your ‘royal duty’ and father an heir. They’ll expect it of you… and you know it.”

“I can refuse, can’t I?” He was silent for a moment, then growled out, “It’s my life!”

“A King’s life is never his own. It belongs to the country, to the people he governs.”

Another moment of quiet, then he said, “Then maybe I should just let Anora keep the crown. I never wanted it anyway.”

“So we are going to let Loghain win then? That’s it? Just give up here and now? What do you think Eamon will say once we get back to Redcliffe?” I said.

Alistair got up from the bed and began pacing in front of the fireplace. “Maker damn it all! No, of course I don’t want to let Loghain win! This is the torment I’ve been dealing with in my head and heart! I can’t have it both ways! If I don’t step up at the Landsmeet, then I disappoint Eamon, Cailan, and myself! But if I take the crown, I don’t have you!”

Tears ran down my cheeks. “We should have just stuck to our duty as Grey Wardens. We should have never gotten together…”

He stopped his pacing and stood in front of me. “But we did… and I wouldn’t take it back even if I could…”

“But it is hurting us both!”

He sat back down next to me again. “Which is why I think we should just say ‘fuck it’ to everything and get back together!”

“Why?”

“Because you and I have our duty as Grey Wardens!” He gripped both of my hands tightly into his. “All the bullshit of politics aside, Wardens is what we are first and foremost! So what if I’m a bastard prince? So what if you are a mage! We have **our** duty! Both of us could very easily get killed in battle … so that is why I think we should get back together!” He looked deep into my shimmering eyes. “IF we survive the Blight, **then** we can worry about what comes after!”

I had to admit what he said just then made a lot of sense. There was a part of me wanted to agree and give my heart what it truly wanted… but the more stubborn part of my mind kept saying, _D_ _on’t_ do it! _Remember the hurt, the pain it caused when he ignored you; when he ran ****from you!_ _More importantly, what will happen if you_ _do both_ _survive the Blight?! He’ll have to leave you again!_

Then my heart had to voice its own opinion. _But remember how good he made you feel!_ _The warmth, the tenderness… the intimacy! Don’t you want that back?_ _Besides… you took that potion! How much longer will you have anyways? Why not just go with it? Enjoy what time you have left with him!_

I sighed and glanced down… and then noticed he was aroused! A surge of anger passed through me. “So this is why you are really here?! You **almost** had me convinced with your ‘oh so sincere’ speech! Admit it! You came in here expecting us to… to…” I grabbed and pulled on my hair. “Sex! It’s always about sex! Not love, not duty, not companionship! Just… sex!”

Alistair looked a bit stunned. “No! I swear! I came in here because I **do** love you! I care for you and I want you back!”

“And… that?!” I glowered, pointing at the erection straining his breeches.

He blushed and put his hands over it. “Well, I suppose I should confess that I’ve thought about it. More than once, I’ll admit.” He closed his eyes for a moment. When he reopened them, they were glowing bright gold. “I can’t help it, Kylara. When I remember what we had together. You made me feel good… and I know I’ve made you feel the same. You cannot deny that. Your eyes don’t lie.” Even though I know he hadn’t been there when Leliana had said the same thing to me, it was unnerving hearing it from him… because I knew he was right, just as Leliana had been.

“Fine, Alistair. You want me to confess as well? Yes, you’ve made me feel good too… but then I remember the hurt and the pain you also caused me. I just don’t think it’s a good idea… getting back together.”

“Kylara.” He placed a quick, chaste kiss on my lips, then pulled away. “I am so very sorry for the things I said and did that hurt you. I do love you. Can you promise me that you will at least think about it? Getting back together with you would mean all of Thedas to me.”

“I will… think on it.” Alistair’s face broke into a smile, but I gave him a stern look back. “I want no pressure from you, however. If anything happens between us again, I want it to be something that happens naturally. Not forced.”

“I understand. Thank you.” He got up from the bed and headed to the door. Before he shut it behind him, he whispered, “Goodnight, love.”

With his last words to me, I knew I’d be fighting a losing battle.

 

Weak, grey morning light through the upper windows of the keep made me realize it was still snowing. I grabbed my blanket off my bedroll and wrapped it around myself, then made my way to the front door.

“Where are you going?” Ari asked me, concern on her face.

“We have horses. I was just going to check on them.”

“Oh! I’ve never seen one up close. Our Master never let us knife-ears get close to them.”

“Arilwyn, please don’t refer to yourself in such a derogatory term. You will never have to deal with that again. You are under our protection now.”

“Yes, new master.”

“Ari, My name is Kylara. You may refer to me by my name. I am not your master, nor are you and Serian our servants. You are free to come and go as you please.” She looked horrified by that prospect, so I quickly added, “But I do hope you will consider staying and working with us.” _It will take time and effort to undo all the harm Howe had done to these two,_ I thought. Then I smiled gently. “Would you like to come and see the horses?”

Her eyes lit up in happiness. “Yes, ma- I mean, yes, Kylara. I would love to.”

“Grab another blanket. It’s likely cold out there.”

She did so and then followed me outside. We walked the short distance to the stables. Once inside she ran up to my mare. “Ooh, she is beautiful!”

“Hold out your hand. Let her sniff you.” Ari did so. My mare snorted gently, which made Ari grin in surprise. “She’ll let you pet her now,” I said.

Ari cooed softly and stroked my mare’s velvety nose. Meanwhile, I hopped up into the cart and looked through our belongings. Leliana had recently replaced her armor in West Hill, so I thought her old set might fit Ari… though it would be a tad loose. Zevran had also done the same, so I grabbed his old set for Serian. I took out some old daggers and then filled a leather pouch with about twenty-five sovereigns. I’d write the letter to Levi once I was back in the keep.

“Ari, would you come here and help me please?”

She reluctantly left my mare and came up to me. “What is all of that?” she asked, seeing the leather armor and the two daggers.

“We need to get you and Seri equipped with better clothing and gear for you to make your journey, once the snow stops.

“These… are for us?”

“Yes. You’ll need better protection from the elements, although Leliana’s old armor will probably be a bit big on you, it will still be better for traveling.”

“It is… so beautiful. Thank you! We’ve never been given such fine things before!”

“Come, let us get back inside the keep. From the feel of the weather, I think the snow will stop soon.”

Once back inside, Arilwyn ran over to Serian to gush about the horses and the items I was giving to them.

After snacking on some more of the dried fruits, meat, and cheese leftover from last night, we got the two elves into the armor. Zevran’s fit Seri well, but Leliana’s armor was almost swimming on Ari.

Wynne tsked at me. “Really, Kylara. You should know that Leliana is a full head taller than this young elf. Let me see if I can help adjust the fit a bit more.”

I nodded and made my way into the kitchen. Once in the pantry, I was happy to discover some ground kafija that still smelled good. I found a large pot and filled it with water. Rather than try and get a fire going into the hearth, I placed my hands on the pot and heated the water with my magic. Once it was all finished, I brought out a large tray with mugs of the hot beverage for everyone. I had also managed to find a jar of honey to sweeten the beverage, but no milk.

As I walked around, letting everyone take a mug, I was surprised to see that Wynne had used some of her own magic to make Leli’s armor fit on Arilwyn’s small frame.

“Lady Wynne was so amazing,” Ari beamed. “Not only did she make the armor fit me better, but she also gave Seri and me matching scarves for the journey!” She stroked the soft wool. “She made them herself!” She wiped a tear away and then said, “All of you have been so kind to us. Thank you.”

 

The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent with Zevran teaching the two elves some basic attack and defense moves. Everyone else cleaned whatever messes had been made and put things back where they belonged. I finished the letter to Levi and then helped Alistair pack all of our belongings. Once that was done, there was nothing else to do but wait.

I found a book on one of the shelves and was about to go read when Morrigan pulled me aside.

“Do you really expect those two,” she said, indicating the elves, “are going to be able to make it to Soldier’s Peak on their own? They have no knowledge of the outside world!”

“But we can’t double back now, Morrigan. We need to get to Denerim.”

“And you will. I will travel with the two elves to ensure their safe passage to the peak. I also intend to return Avernus’s journal to him.”

“I… Thank you, Morrigan. This is very kind of you.”

“I do this for you, my sister, because I also need to find out from Avernus what his potion may also be doing to you. I… worry that I may have been too late.”

“But I feel fine now, Morrigan. Better than I ever have before.”

“It is a precaution. I feel ‘tis better for me to know now, rather than in another emergency.”

I nodded. “You’re right. Again, thank you.” I saw her blush and noticed she was still unused to so much kindness, even after all this time. To ease the tension, I asked, “How will you meet back up with us?”

“I will turn into a bird and fly there.”

“We will meet you in Denerim then.”

 

We left Vigil’s Keep by late afternoon, the snow had stopped at last. I explained before we parted ways, that Morrigan was accompanying Ari and Seri to Soldier’s Peak. So as not to alarm them, she had shown the two elves her shapeshifting abilities. Then we continued east, while Morrigan and the elves turned and headed west.

We made as much progress as we could before it got dark, and then set up camp near a partially frozen branch of the Hafter River. After breaking some ice, Alistair was able to spear some fish. Using the last of the vegetables that had been given to us by Brunnhylda, I made a fish stew for us to eat.

After cleaning up, I was ready for some sleep. Leliana had something else in mind, however.

“Can you come to my tent for a bit, Kylara?”

“Sure, Leli.”

Once we got inside, I noticed it was just the two of us. “Where’s Zevran?”

“Keeping Alistair distracted for the moment,” she replied.

“Why? What’s going on?”

“You offered a while back to listen… if I ever needed to talk.”

“I remember.”

“For the last few days, I’ve been getting the feeling that we were being watched. When we left Soldier’s Peak. When you were sick from that potion. When we took shelter at Vigil’s Keep. Someone has been tracking us.”

“Do you think it’s Loghain’s men? I mean, we know Rendon Howe fully supports him, and though it was empty, but for Ari and Seri, while we sheltered there, Vigil’s Keep was his old home, before he moved to Denerim.”

“It is a possibility, I suppose. I don’t know who is watching, only that someone is. But there is something else too. We are nearing Denerim… and there is something I should have told you. A long time ago, in fact.” She took a breath and then blurted it out. “I lied to you.”

“What? Lied? About what?”

“About why I left Orlais.”

“Oh,” was all I could say at that moment.

“I told you I had left because I wanted to find peace in the Chantry. You never found that odd?”

I still wasn’t quite sure where this was leading, so I just gestured for her to go on.

“There are Chantries in Orlais. A lot of them in fact. Dozens upon dozens in Val Royeaux alone! Why would I leave the only country I had ever known as home just to join the Chantry?”

“Then this has to do with your previous life then. You being a bard, then.”

“Yes.”

“I figured you hadn’t told me all of it back then,” I said.

“I didn’t feel like talking about it back then. We had really only just met and you assumed like so many others that a bard is nothing more than a storyteller. When you started wondering where I had learned my combat skills, I told you that a bard was a type of spy. But there is more to the story. Much more.

“Something else happened to me in Orlais, which is why I fled to Ferelden.” She paused for a moment, then said, “Do you remember The Guardian at the Temple of Andraste?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “I do.”

“Do you remember what he said to me? That in Orlais, I was someone… and I was. In Ferelden, in Lothering, I wasn’t just seeking peace. I was in hiding. I figured I wouldn’t be found in such a small town.”

“Why were you… hiding?”

“In Orlais, I was being… hunted.”

“Hunted? Whatever for?” I asked.

“I was framed. Betrayed by someone I thought I knew and could trust. Marjolaine. She was my mentor… and friend.”

The way she said ‘friend’ immediately told me they had been far more than that, but I let her continue.

“It was she who taught me the bardic arts. How to enchant with words and songs, to carry myself as a high-born lady… or to blend in, like a servant. The skills I learned I used to serve her, my bard-master because I enjoyed what I did… and because I loved her.”

“How did she betray you?”

“I thought I knew her. My devotion blinded me to her… less than noble attributes. You see, there was a man I was sent to kill, and then I was to bring everything he carried back to her.” She sighed. “I didn’t know who the man was. I was just given a description and a name. I hunted him down and killed him. On his body I found documents. Sealed documents.”

“You opened them?”

“My curiosity got the better of me. Something told me I needed to know what was in those letters. Marjolaine… She had been selling all kinds of information on Orlais to other countries. Antiva, Nevarra, and others. It was treason!”

“Isn’t that something that bards do though?”

“Not like that, though. My life as a bard had taught me that my loyalties should be kept fluid. My concern was that her life would be in danger if she was caught. Orlais has been at war with so many countries in the past, so it takes a rather harsh view of such things… as I later discovered.”

“What do you mean?”

“I should have left well alone, but I didn’t. I told Marjolaine that I feared for her life. She laughed and brushed aside my concerns. She admitted her guilt but said it was in the past. That she was going to have the documents destroyed. And I believed her.” A tear fell from her eye. “I kept right on believing until they showed me the documents – altered by her hand – naming **me** as the traitor!”

“They?”

“The Orleasian Guards. They captured me and did… terrible things to me to make me confess and reveal my conspirators.” More tears fell. “It was a traitor’s punishment I endured, and at the end of it, all that awaited me was an eternity in an unmarked grave.”

She was silent for a long while as she wept, remembering. I held her in my arms for a time as she cried. Comforted her, as she had offered me comfort on other occasions. After a time, I quietly asked, “How did you escape?”

She gave a short, derisive laugh. “The skills Marjolaine had taught me were good for something, at least. I broke free when I saw the opportunity. I was tempted to confront her. I was furious, betrayed! But what could I do against her? If she thought I was coming for her, she would have just had me caught again. So I fled to Ferelden, to the Chantry and the Maker. Ferelden and Lothering protected my person, and the Maker saved my soul.”

“And then you got caught up in our mess,” I gave a wry smile.

“I left with you because I knew you and Alistair would do good things in the world. But perhaps it is because I am no longer in hiding, that I felt I owed you the truth. Denerim is a huge city. Marjolaine might have people looking for me. I thought you should at least be prepared… or if I was to suddenly disappear.”

“You’ve been watching out for us, now we can do the same for you. You are our friend. We won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Thank you. I am glad I trusted you with my story.” Leliana gave me a hug.

“That is what friends are for.”

 

The next day was much warmer and the snow melted a bit more. However, Alistair warned that it would likely snow again soon… and it would be good to finally get to Denerim where we could wait out the worst of the winter weather.

We had barely begun our trek for the day when an arrow suddenly whizzed overhead. We were suddenly surrounded by bandits!

As I got off my horse and grabbed my staff, I asked quickly for Shayle to hold the horses’ reins so they wouldn’t bolt. She nodded and took the reins as we all dismounted.

The bandits were very well prepared, as it took us time to battle them all. But we did end up emerging victorious.

I approached the leader of the group and was about to finish him off when Leliana held up her hand to stay my spell. “Stop! Don’t kill him,” she said softly.

“What?” I gave her a confused look. “Why not? He, along with the rest of this group, tried to kill us!”

“He is no common bandit. None of them were. Their weapons and armor are of fine make… and they were all well-trained.” Leliana frowned. “You know what I am talking about, don’t you?” she asked the lone surviving bandit. “Who are you?”

The bandit coughed weakly. “Someone who regrets taking you on, that’s for sure!” He slowly stood up. “We were told it’d be an easy job. Kill the pretty red-haired girl… and then deal with the others as we pleased.”

“Kill the - You came to… kill me?” Leliana gasped.

“No one threatens my friends and lives!” I growled and lightning sparked between my fingers.

“Wait!” Leliana cried out. I lowered my hand again. “Who sent you?”

The bandit smirked. “It don’t pay to ask why someone wants someone else dead. I just need to know what to do… and where to get my money.” He scoffed. “Ha! Money. I suppose I’ll be lucky to get away with my life. But I have an idea if you’ll hear me out.”

“Speak quickly,” Leliana replied in a dark tone.

“Look. I’ve no real quarrel with you,” the bandit pleaded. “Wasn’t me that wanted you dead after all. But I know how you can find the one who does.”

“Don’t stop there,” Alistair tightened his grip on his sword. “Tell us. Now.”

“I have some directions written down on where we were supposed to go next. It’s a house in the Denerim Market District. Here.” He handed a scrap of paper over to Leliana. “It’s the best I can do.”

“Thank you,” she replied quietly, but then her voice got hard again. “Now leave. I never want to see you again!”

“Yes,” I said as I crossed my arms across my chest. “Get lost, before we change our minds.”

“Don’t you worry none.” The bandit began limping away. “I’ll trouble you no more.”

As soon as the bandit was far enough away, Leliana looked at me, her face pale. “It’s Marjolaine. It has to be.”

“You really think she sent those men after you?” I said.

“Yes, it had to be her,” Leliana murmured. “Maybe she – or someone who worked with her – saw me somewhere in our travels. She’s finally found me and wants to finish what she started back in Orlais.”

“Well, we are less than a day from Denerim. What do you want to do?”

Leliana’s normally bright eyes went cold. “She needs to answer for what she’s done to me. I want to go to this house. Seek her out.” She nodded, affirming something to herself. “Perhaps it is time to settle the score for good.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 31 There was no official start date that I could find for the start of the Blight, so to kind of make it match my traveling times, I place the battle in late Solace (akin to late July for us). For my friends and family, while we share a month (August) between our calendar and the Thedas calendar, the rest of their months are different. These are the Thedas months: Wintermarch (Holiday: First Day), Guardian (Holiday: Wintersend), Drakonis, Cloudreach, Bloomingtide (Holiday: Summerday), Justinian, Solace, August (Holiday: All Soul's Day), Kingsway, Harvestmere, Firstfall (Holiday: Satinalia), & Haring. The holidays fall at the beginning of their respected months. http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Calendar


	31. Denerim (part 1) - Getting Settled In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang arrives in the capital city of Ferelden, where they intend to stay for a short time, before heading out to find the Dalish. While they are there, they end up meeting both some old and some new friends... and Alistair finally gets to meet his long, lost sister. Will it be a happy reunion?

After dealing with the bandit leader, we continued our progress to Denerim. Morrigan had caught up to us much faster than I had expected. She explained it was because she didn’t have to follow the road when flying, which made sense. A minor snow storm blew in late in the day, forcing us to set up a quick camp, but the snow ended by nightfall. Since I was still sharing a tent with her (much to Alistair’s disappointment, as I knew he’d been expecting me to share with him again), I got to hear what had happened with her travels with Arilwyn and Serian.

“The journey was uneventful… though I did end up having to shape-shift into horse to get them up the mountain trail. They were not used to such exercise. Once we got to the keep, they were a bit overwhelmed at first, but your friend Levi and some of his cousins quickly made the elves feel welcome. It seems they will have little troubles now.” Morrigan smiled. “I also gave Levi the gold and your letter… but he was wondering how he’d get news back to you about the progress being made.”

“That’s a good question,” I mused. “I guess I hadn’t thought of that.”

“’Tis no worry for you. I solved the problem.”

“How?” I asked.

“Besides my being a shape-shifter, as you well know, I have always had an affinity for the creatures of the wilds. I coaxed an owl down from a tree and charmed it to be able to find you no matter how far we roam. So now Levi can send you messages whenever he likes.”

“Brilliant Morrigan! Thank you!”

She blushed. “’Twas nothing. It was a simple spell. You could have done it.”

“But you thought of it first.” I paused for a moment, then asked, “What about Avernus? Were you able to find out anything?”

“He didn’t want to talk with me. Claimed he was busy with his research… I returned his journal, to which he seemed appreciative. Perhaps I’ll fly back on another occasion and see if he is more open to conversing.”

“I hope so. Even though I feel fine…”

“Shh!” Morrigan suddenly shushed me. I shrugged in a manner to ask, _What’s going on?_

She muttered a quick spell. I then saw a glow from the fire reach out and there was a yelp from outside our tent.

We both poked our heads out to see Alistair rubbing his ass. His breeches were singed.

“By the void, Morrigan! Was that necessary?” he whined.

“’Tis absolutely necessary when you try to spy on us! Hopefully, that made you learn your lesson… though if you **ever** try to do that again, I’ll burn more than your breeches. Now get back to your own tent!”

He threw an angry look at her and muttered something about apostates… then disappeared back into his tent.

Once he was out of sight and we closed our tent flaps again, I could hold it no longer. I burst into giggles.

Morrigan smirked at me. “Though you still deny it, I know you have feelings for him. So honestly, I thought you would have disapproved of my action there.”

“Maybe a tiny bit,” I said in between my laughter. “But it was still pretty funny!” I laughed a bit harder, but it suddenly turned into coughing. Morrigan quickly fetched her waterskin.

I took a breath to calm down and then drank some of the water.

“Are you all right?” she asked with concern.

I cleared my throat and took another sip of water. “I’m fine, really. Probably shouldn’t have laughed so hard, that’s all.”

“You are sure?”

I handed Morrigan back her waterskin and nodded. When she turned away to put it back into her pack, I quickly wiped a small bloodstain from my hand onto my black leggings, hoping that she didn’t notice.

 

By mid-morning we could see the farms on the outskirts of Denerim.

The road was surprisingly crowded with traffic heading into the city. Some did look like refugees, which made me wonder how bad things were getting in the south. Still other travelers heading to the city were finely dressed. Was there something going on in the city?

I leaned over to Leliana, who I was riding next to. “Leli,” I said, “I am thinking I should summon my disguise spell…”

“Oh? But I thought you said you didn’t want to hide anymore.”

“Yes, this is true… but there do seem to be an awful lot of people heading to Denerim, don’t you think?”

She nodded.

“I just think for practical reasons, to get us past the guards at the gate. With this many people, the last thing we want is a scene.”

“Smart thinking, love,” Alistair piped up. “Once we are settled in the city, we should be fine.”

I saw Leliana grin at me upon hearing Alistair calling me ‘love’. I just shook my head.

“Don’t start,” I muttered at her.

As we got closer to the city gates, I muttered a quick enchantment to change our hair colors. Leli, Morrigan, and Wynne became brunettes, while Zev, Sten, and myself changed to black hair. Sten did give a slight scowl at feeling the magic on him but said nothing. Lastly, Oghren and Alistair changed into blonds.

“Blond? Really Warden?” I heard Oghren mutter.

“It’s just temporary… now hush. Let me get us past the guards.”

The guard on my left looked over our large party with slight interest. “Business in town, or are you staying for the holiday?”

 _Holiday?? By the void, was Satinalia already upon us?!_ I glanced around the gates of the town and a few outlying homes… sure enough, the town was quite festive looking. _How had I not noticed?_ Ribbons and garlands of greenery were all over the place, as well as some paper lanterns. _Maker, how time_ _flies when you’re constantly traveling!_

“Business and holiday,” I answered the guard.

“How long will you be staying?”

 _Dammit, hadn’t thought about that either! With the weather being somewhat unpredictable at this time of year…_ “A month? Perhaps less. We just need to roads to be safe to travel again.”

The guard on my left gave me an incredulous stare. “Safe? When will the roads ever be safe again? We have refugees streaming in daily with reports of darkspawn all over the place… and the Grey Wardens are nowhere to be found!” Under his breath, he then muttered, “I think Ferelden may just be doomed…” He then wandered off to take care of the person coming in behind us.

I glanced at Alistair. He looked grim.

“Ah, pay Gwinnet no mind,” the other guard said. “He’s always been a bit of a downer.”

I was probably asking for trouble, but I had to know. I asked the guard on my right, “What have you heard about the Grey Wardens?”

“Heard all were slaughtered at Ostagar… but then rumors began to surface that there may have been a few survivors.” He glanced around and then leaned close to me. “I heard from some people that came all the way from Lothering that two Grey Wardens helped to evacuate the whole town before the ‘spawn hit! Not to mention they fed all of the refugees as well! There has been all sorts of ‘mysterious’ good deeds news coming in from all over.”

“And… what about what the teryn says?”

He whispered, “This goes no further because it could cost me my job, but you seem like good, honest people. I think it is a whole lot of hooey, calling the Wardens traitors. Especially when I have tons of refugees pouring in that say otherwise.”

“You seem awfully trusting to spill such secrets in public to complete strangers,” Morrigan quipped. I gave her a shocked look.

The guard gave her a smirk, then turned back to Alistair and me. “Truth is, I know who you are. Even with your different hair colors. There were flyers passed out in the early days after Ostagar with your likenesses on them.” At the worried looks on our faces, he chuckled. “Not everyone is against you, Wardens. In fact, speak to Sergeant Kylon in the Market District if you get a chance… he may be able to help you further. But all the same, mind yourselves while here… there are many that do believe Teryn Loghain’s claims.” With that, he waved us through the gates.

After we passed through the outer gates, Alistair breathed a sigh of relief. “For a moment there, I thought we were really in trouble!”

Morrigan rolled her eyes. “’Tis remarkable that you still remain this naïve after all these months. Just because one guard isn’t willing to turn you over, doesn’t mean the next twenty will be so kind. Were I you – which thankfully, I am not! I’d keep my head low whilst we are here.”

“Morrigan has a point, Alistair. We must be very careful here.” He merely nodded.

Once through the outer gates, we stopped at the stables. Keeping our altered hair color, for the time being, I approached the head groom. “How much to board our horses here, good ser?”

He looked us over, then counted the horses, mule, pony, and smirked. “Norm’ly I charge two sov’reign a day per beast, but wif the holiday, me stable is near to burstin’. I gots the room, but it’ll cost ya five sovs a day per beast.”

“That is highway robbery!” Alistair exclaimed. I elbowed him in the ribs. He looked back at me with a hurt expression.

“Please excuse my companion,” I said as I glared at Alistair. He quickly looked away from my stare, his face red with embarrassment. I turned back to the groom. “I think we can afford to put them up for a few days here then, not sure what we can do about the rest… ” I said. “Is there also a place where we can keep our cart here?”

“You merchants?” the groom asked.

“Not really, but we do have some unique items that we’ve collected in our long,” I put a bit of emphasis on the word ‘long’, “journey to sell here… if folk are interested.

“How long d’you all be plannin’ on staying?” the groom asked.

“Truth is about three weeks, perhaps a month. We are here for both the holiday and business.”

“Hrmm…” The groom was quiet for a moment, then said. “One hundred sovs for the month.”

“Seventy-five,” I counter-offered.

“Ninety. That’s me final offer.”

“Fine,” I replied and shook his hand. “And the cart?”

“Park it in the alley by the barn.” He pointed to his right. “Oh, and jus’ so you knows… I ain’t responsible if’n anything gets stolen from it. You gots that?”

I gave a glance at Shayle, who was standing behind us all. _Hope she won’t mind guard duty…_ I thought. “Understood,” I said to the groom.

Once I paid the groom, he took each of our horses, Bodahn’s mule, and Oghren’s pony, and got them all situated into their stalls. I did inspect them to make sure they were clean and briefly looked at the other horses being boarded. Everything looked good, so I felt confident that this groom was competent and would take care of our horses properly.

After that, Shayle and Sten guided the cart into the alleyway.

“Are you sure about leaving it here?” Alistair whispered to me. “I mean, we have my brother Cailan’s armor in there… and Maric’s… my father’s sword. What if someone sees them? Or worse, they get stolen?”

“They are hidden well-enough. Besides, I have an idea.” I walked over to Shayle. “Shayle, would you be please be willing to stay here with our cart and guard our belongings while we are in this town?”

“It is actually asking me? My former master would have just commanded me to do it. Of course, since I no longer have a control rod…” Shayle was quiet for a moment, then said. “I will do it. Mainly because I trust and like it much better than my former master, and also because it asked me so politely.” She glanced around, then leaned down close to me. “Besides, what else could I do around here besides scare other humans?” She barked out a laugh. “Might as well have some fun with it.”

“Thank you, Shayle. I really appreciate it.”

“It is a very curious human. So unlike all the others I used to know in Shadmoor. I like traveling with it and the others. So I do not mind if I have to occasionally keep an eye on it’s belongings.”

Alistair joined me by Shayle. “I thank you too, Shayle. You are guarding some very important items there. Items that belonged to my brother and father…”

“It and the other Warden do not need to worry. I will protect everything here.”

“I have something to pre-thank you for this, Shayle. Could you kneel down for a moment?” I put my hand on her rocky shoulder and murmured an incantation.

Shayle gave me a curious look. “What did it do just now?”

“Oh, just a little spell that will keep all the birds in the city away from you while we are here,” I told her with a smile.

Shayle let out a booming laugh, which startled everyone. “If its spell truly works, it may have just earned a friend for life,” she said with a huge smile.

 

Now that the horses were settled, we needed to figure out what to do with Winston. I wanted to keep him with us, but chances were none of the inns would allow a dog to stay… and this made me sad.

Eventually, we found a place that boarded both cats and dogs. The owner looked a bit nervous at first, but when he saw Winston bounding off playing with some nearby children – one who cheerfully cried out “Puppy!” – he felt a bit better about boarding my warhound.

Winston was not too happy when I told him he’d have to stay there. After I gave him an extra good scratch, Alistair gave him a good belly rub, and we promised to visit him every day he seemed to perk up a bit.

Next, we headed to the relay station. Everyone waited outside as Alistair and I headed into the building. I asked if there were any letters for Kylara and I was presented with two. The first was from Teagan.

 

_Kylara,_

 

_So good to hear that all is going well and that you have probably made it safely to Denerim by the time this letter arrives. Please do write back to let me know this. From now on, use my initials… just in case any of our correspondences get intercepted. There are certain parties that we need to keep out of the loop. E was glad to hear of your success with the dwarven throne and we both hope that you will be equally successful with the elves when you find them. We assume that you will be staying in Denerim until the worst of the winter weather eventually moves north._

_If you need to buy anything while in town or need a place to stay, you can expense it to me or E. Any store or inn can and will provide a receipt. You can send those to us with a letter and we will send the gold back to cover it._

_Once you head back out of the city, let us know. We anxiously await your arrival back here. Have a Happy Satinalia and Maker keep you safe on your journeys._

 

_T.G._

 

I wrote a short letter back confirming everything for Teagan and promised to also let him know once we were back on the road. The second letter was, as I expected, was from Cullen.

 

_To my friend, Kylara…_

 

_Thank you for your letter. Please let Alistair know I accept his apology and that I am happy that you both are working things out. My face has healed thanks to Wynne’s ointment, but I still do have a scar…_

 

As he was reading over my shoulder, I saw Alistair wince at the mention of the scar.

“Maker,” he whispered, “I didn’t think I’d hit him that hard… I feel like I owe him another apology.”

“If we run into him again, the two of you can talk. Truthfully, he doesn’t seem upset over it though,” I whispered back.

I continued to read.

 

_After Ostagar, I did send a short letter to my sister Mia, advising her about the darkspawn. She wrote me back saying that she was getting the family to head to South Reach… but I have not heard from her since. I do worry about my family very much. If you find yourselves heading to that town, I would be ever so grateful if you can find out if they did manage to arrive safely._

_Please also, keep yourselves safe while in Denerim. The news we get coming from the city does not sound good._

_Have a good holiday and I hope to hear from you again soon._

 

_Sincerely, Cullen_

 

I jotted a quick note back to Cullen, letting him know that we were all right for the time being and that I would indeed check up on his family if we did stop in South Reach.

After we left the relay station, we wandered up and down a few streets, taking in the sights of the city, since my first visit there had been rather rushed.

I was so absorbed in looking at all of the festive sights for the upcoming holiday that I accidentally bumped into a man on the corner.

I apologized and the man nodded, accepting it, but then he suddenly grabbed onto my arm to stop me again.

“I recognize you… from Ostagar,” the man said. His eyes narrowed as he looked at both Alistair and me. Then, “Andraste’s Blood, you two are the wanted Grey Wardens!”

“Who are you?”

“I am Ser Landry, I was there at Ostagar with Teryn Loghain. Both of you were there with Duncan! You killed my friend, good King Cailan! I demand satisfaction!”

I blinked in confusion. “Satisfaction?”

“An uncommon traitor deserves no common death. You will meet me in the alley behind the Gnawed Noble and there we will duel! My blade will see justice done!”

 _Wow,_ I thought. _Not even fi_ _fteen_ _minutes into the city and we are already in trouble._ I sighed. “Loghain’s charges against us are false and- ”

“So you will compound slander on top of treason?! You dare smear the regent’s word?!”

Alistair stepped up next to me. “Use your wits! Darkspawn killed our King, not the Wardens! Grey Wardens fight and kill darkspawn! We wouldn’t **help** them!”

Ser Landry’s eyes narrowed again. “I do not like your tone, ser. But… you may be right. Hrmm… I may regret this, but I cannot duel someone who may be guiltless. However,” he looked at the two of us pointedly, “I find out that you are hiding anything from me. I will track both of you down.”

“You won’t find anything,” I said with confidence.

“That remains to be seen. I plan on having a word with the regent later…”

Both Alistair and I looked at each other with slight panic. We didn’t want Loghain to know we were in town… not at this time! He’d likely have us arrested on the spot. I took a deep calming breath and then gently touched Ser Landry on the arm.

“Please good ser,” I said in the most diplomatic voice I could muster… since I was nervous. Ser Landry looked at me quizzically. “We are only in town for a short time, to celebrate Satinalia, and do not want the regent (I said it, swallowing that bitter pill) to know that we are here at this time. Could you please not say anything?”

Perhaps it was my words, or the pleading look on my face, as Ser Landry’s expression softened.

“I don’t know how a pretty lady, such as yourself, got involved with the Wardens, but you seem sincere.” He sighed. “Very well. I will not say anything… again, under the condition that I do not find that you are hiding anything from me.” He gave a short, crisp nod of his head. “Enjoy the holiday. Farewell.”

After he walked off, I breathed a sigh of relief.

“That was a bit of a close call,” Alistair said. Wynne and Leliana agreed. “Good thing you have a way with both words and people.” He gave me a light squeeze.

“We were a bit lucky, but this just goes to show that we do need to be careful here for sure.”

Most everyone murmured an agreement on that.

 

After our brief situation with Ser Landry, I realized that we were not far from Brother Genetivi’s house. I suggested that we head on over and let him know that Arl Eamon was awake and well.

We knocked on his door and Genetivi himself answered. He gave me a brief hug when he recognized me.

“Welcome back to Denerim, Wardens, and friends,” Brother Genetivi greeted us. He invited us all in and then shook Alistair’s hand. “You remember me? We spoke briefly when I stopped by Redcliffe to pay my respects to Arl Eamon.”

Alistair nodded. “Yes, I remember.”

After we settled down at his dining table and he’d brought us all some hot tea, he asked the question I knew he’d been anxious to know since we arrived.

“Was your mission a success then, Warden Kylara?”

I nodded and reached into my pack. I then handed Genetivi the small leather pouch that had held the Ashes. Genetivi took it from me.

“Is that… oh, there is some dust on – no, that’s not dust. Oh, Maker! I’m not worthy to look upon…” He wiped a tear from his eye. “Did they do as prophesied? Is Arl Eamon…”

“He is awake now.”

“Truly a miracle then! Wh-what was it like? Coming to the Urn, I mean?”

“There were tests,” I replied.

“Tests? Interesting… very interesting. Perhaps my research will not seem so much like blasphemy to the Chantry now. I should see about organizing another expedition to Haven and the Temple now. There is so much history there! It must be studied… and pilgrims should be allowed to come to the Urn!”

“That… may not be wise,” I spoke quietly. “There are those that would certainly exploit it for their own purposes…”

“But the Urn belongs to all the faithful! How could you deny this to them? No… It must be shared.”

“So then everyone comes by and takes a pinch of ashes from the Urn?” Alistair said, surprising me. “I hope those ashes are self-replenishing.”

“Brother, I wouldn’t want to deny anyone to visit; the right to pay their respects, but as Alistair just said… if everyone takes some of the Ashes… What then when they are all gone?”

“I wonder if The Guardian would even allow it?” Wynne said softly.

“Well, we would only give them to those who really need them!” Genetivi replied with conviction. “I must spread this good news, or die trying!”

“And how would you determine who has the right to these miracle Ashes?” Alistair shook his head. “Seems to me like it would become a rather exclusive club.”

“I-I don’t understand, Warden Kylara. You were there! You witnessed they miracle they performed. Why do you not understand what it is that I am trying to do?”

“Again, Brother… I do not wish to stop your research or prevent pilgrimages to the temple. What I am concerned about is exactly what Alistair pointed out. How can you determine who is truly worthy to receive them? But perhaps… a compromise could be arranged?”

“Compromise?” Genetivi seemed unsure.

“Go up there by yourself. No Chantry expedition… not just yet, anyways. Talk with The Guardian. Perhaps he may allow you to take some of the Ashes yourself for study. But in the meantime, the real Urn gets put into a secure place. Another Urn can be placed on the pedestal.”

“A fake? But why?”

“People can still come to pray. Perhaps the Ashes were not truly magical, perhaps it is just faith… Perhaps it was the belief that Isolde had that helped cure Arl Eamon.”

Genetivi gave me a doubtful look. “I’m not so sure…”

“Please, Brother. All I ask is for you to talk with The Guardian first. He ultimately will have the final say regardless.”

“Who is this Guardian?” Genetivi asked. “What is his right to deny the faithful?”

“Believe me when I say, you will understand when you meet him.”

“Truly, Brother,” Leliana said, “He will know your very soul.”

“All right. When all is calm in the country again… the civil war, the Blight… I will make my own pilgrimage back up there. I will speak with this… Guardian. Then I will determine what to do afterwards. You saved me from those crazed cultists and were kind enough to help me in my hour of need, so I will do as you ask, Warden Kylara.”

“Thank you, Brother. Maker’s Blessing on you.”

“And on you. Both you and Warden Alistair. You both have a monumental task in front of you. I will pray for your success.”

 

We said our farewells to Genetivi and then headed across the road to the Gnawed Noble.

“Do you really think this ‘Brother’ will honor your request?” Morrigan asked.

“All I can do is hope so. I know you were not there, Morrigan, but I believe if his intentions are truly honest, then The Guardian will let him pass. If not…”

“Who… or what is The Guardian?” Alistair asked.

“He is the spirit of one of the Disciples of Andraste. When it comes to the Ashes, his word will be the final say,” I replied.

“Well, I suppose that is good.” Alistair then looked at the tavern. “What are we doing here?”

“We all need a meal at the very least. I can also ask about rooms… and if there are other places to stay.”

Once we were all inside the tavern and seated at a table large enough for all of us, I also broached the other thought that had been on my mind since we came here. “You all probably realize that we only have so much gold on us… and we plan on staying here for awhile… So I was wondering how you all felt if we got jobs to work while we are here?”

“I can certainly pick up the odd job or two,” Leliana said, “However, I need to keep an eye out for Marjolaine first. I truly have a suspicion she is here, somewhere in this city, watching me.”

“I have an old friend who sometimes stays in Denerim when her ship is in port,” Zevran said with a smile. “I can check in with her if she is here. Perhaps she can offer some work for me. After all, an assassin is always needed from time to time.”

Alistair leaned forward and spoke in a hushed tone to Zevran. “You’ll kill people… for money?”

“Have you forgotten? I was a Crow. Now, granted, I never got paid directly before… I always got a cut. But it is what I am good at… and of course, I ask forgiveness for my sins from the Maker every chance I get.” Zevran smirked.

“But... you ask forgiveness and then you go right on with your sinning!”

Zevran raised an eyebrow. “What manner of monster do you think I am? The Maker has never objected. Why should you?”

“I... have no idea,” Alistair mumbled.

“Zev, please. We want to keep on the down low while we are here. I’m… not sure if that is a good idea.”

“Ah, worry not, dear Kylara. You forget that there are parts of this town where such behavior is completely overlooked. I will not let it come back to hurt you or Alistair in any way. I give you my word.”

“I’m still not certain it is a good idea, but I suppose we can see. The Chantry Board is always an option, but I know they’ll only have so many things to do. Truthfully, there may be other jobs in town that we may end up doing that are not strictly on the up and up. But I suppose if we need the money…”

“I’ll see if I can help the healers,” Wynne said. “There is always a need for that.”

“Not really sure what I can do for you, Warden,” Oghren said, looking a bit downcast. “I don’t think they need any warriors like me in this town…”

“On the contrary, my stout friend,” Zev piped up. “I think I might know just the place where you… and Sten… might be of use. Assuming you are interested, yes?”

“We’ll see about that, elf,” Sten muttered.

I noticed Morrigan had been silent this entire time. But before I could ask her opinion, a barmaid came up to take our food orders. After we ordered, I asked her who was in charge of the tavern. She pointed to a man behind the bar.

“Excuse me,” I said to everyone. “I’ll be right back.”

I got up from our table and headed to the bar. The man behind the bar greeted me.

“Greetings and welcome to the Gnawed Noble. What can I do for you?”

“My friends and I have been on the road for a very long time. We’ve decided to stay here in Denerim for the holiday and a short time after… until the weather clears. I just needed to know if there is any place we can stay for a while that will work with what funds we have… and if you know of any job opportunities in town.”

The barman nodded. “How many are you?”

“There are eight of us. Four men and four women.”

“How do you all want to split the rooms?” 

Just then I head Alistair speak. “She and I will share a room. Do you have any available here?”

Before I could protest, the barman smiled and said “As a matter of fact, I do. Got a vacancy this morning.”

“Give me just a minute,” I said and then I pulled Alistair off to the side.

“What do you think you are doing?!” I whispered vehemently.

“I know we have gold, but didn’t you see that bit in Teagan’s letter? We can expense the inn stay to him or Eamon.”

“B-but that doesn’t seem right… not when we have our own funds.”

“Love,” I blushed at him calling me that. “You are the most generous soul I know, but there is no way, even if we found work for all of us, that we’d end up with enough to cover our entire stay here. You’ve already spent ninety sovereigns to board the horses, another twenty to board Winston… plus what you spent to cover things in West Hill. You also paid Levi to help with the two elves we sent his way.”

He gave me a quick hug. “Eamon and Teagan may not be my real family, but they are still like family to me. We are not taking advantage of them… they **offered**.”

“Well…” I was still a little uncertain, but he had brought up a very valid point. “All right. But I will offer to pay them back.”

He gave me a small smile. “You can try, but I’m almost certain they will refuse, you know.”

I sighed, then said. “And what is this about us sharing a room?! We are not a couple anymore!”

“But I want us to be together again. Can’t we at least try and work it out?” He looked at me earnestly. “Please. Share with me tonight. I swear I will not touch you or force you into anything. We can just spend the night talking. Reminiscing. If after one night, you decide you want to still be alone, then I will find a new room somewhere else for me.”

“All right. One night. Then we will see.” _Why am I agreeing to this?!_

Alistair’s wide smile threatened to break my resolve even further.

_Oh, this is just asking for trouble!_

 

In the end, Alistair and I took the one room at the Gnawed Noble. The barkeep told us there was a small rooming house on the south side of the city that likely still had some rooms available for the rest of the party. He also told us of some jobs that he knew of. I thanked him.

Back at the table, Alistair explained about the expense account allocated to us from Teagan and Eamon for the inn. Thankfully, he did **not** mention that the allotment also would allow us to buy things. I had told Alistair under no circumstances was I going to allow us to go crazy and buy all sorts of weapons, armor, and other things with the arl’s gold. For those kinds of expenses, we would definitely use our own. He agreed.

After our meal, we made our way down to the southern end of town. The rooming house that the barman had mentioned was small but clean and well-kept. Surprisingly, they had enough availability that Morrigan, Wynne, Oghren, and Sten were able to get individual rooms. Zevran and Leliana decided to share, which didn’t surprise me at all.

Once everyone was settled, we all agreed to meet back at the Gnawed Noble the following day to see what else the city had to offer. We also found out that Satinalia would be in four days.

As Alistair and I left the rooming house, the sun was starting to go down. We stopped and grabbed a bite to eat from a nearby food stall and then made our way back up to the main Market District and to the Gnawed Noble.

The barman, Peitr, welcomed us back and handed Alistair the key to our room. We headed up the stairs and Alistair used the key to unlock the door. Once we stepped inside I began to regret taking his advice about the expense account… for it was clear this was not a cheap room. We passed through a large sitting room first. It had a huge couch, a thick plush rug on the floor, and large fireplace all its own. In the bedroom, the huge four-poster bed in the center was covered in rich silk fabrics, fancy tasseled pillows, and had thick drapes tied back with a satin cord. Fancy paintings covered the stone walls. There was another large fireplace in the room with a carved hardwood mantle and two golden candelabras on both sides of the bed. At the foot of the bed was a small silk settee.

Off to the side was a large privacy screen. Behind it, the small chamber had a large tub for bathing and its own privy to use.

Everything was so richly appointed, I really hated to think of what this room was going to cost per night.

“Alistair… maybe we should also take a room at that house where the others are staying. This place is really… expensive looking.”

“I’ll talk to Peitr and find out how much it might be for the time we are here. If it is truly going to cost too much, then I promise we can look for another place after the holiday. All right? But for now, make yourself comfortable. Might as well enjoy it while we are here.”

I merely nodded and then set my pack and staff against the wall near the fireplace.

There was a knock on the door and Alistair went to answer it.

A small maid walked in and bowed to us both. “Greetings, my name is Victoria, and I am to be your personal maid while you stay with us.”

I blanched. _Personal maid? Now I_ _ **know**_ _this place is not cheap!_

Victoria smiled at us. “I will get a fire going. Do you need me to draw a bath for you?”

“Yes, please,” Alistair said.

“Anything else, good ser?”

“A light tray of food and a bottle of wine will be nice.”

“Yes ser, thank you, ser. I’ll be right back with everything.” Victoria bowed to us, then left the room.

My mouth gaped open. “What in the void, Alistair Theirin! You are not King, yet and you acting like we have gold coming out of our asses! T-this is too much! We need to leave here and find someplace cheaper! Eamon will never accept the receipt from this place!”

“Calm down, love. It does not cost any extra for these services. You forget… this place caters to **nobles**. They **expect** services like these to be offered. This room would be the same price with or without the amenities.”

My eyebrows went up. “You are sure of this?”

“Yes. Now… when Victoria returns, go ahead and take your bath first. Then I’ll go. We’ll have a light supper and then we can talk.”

“ **Just** talk?”

“Unless you want more…”

“Not likely.”

“Then we will just talk… and go from there.”

 

“So you can see how this red wine compliments the olives and the cheese on this plate?” Alistair said with a smile. We were both sitting on the bed; a mound of pillows behind us. There was a plate of fruit, vegetables, and cheese in between us and we were now on our second bottle of Antivan red wine.

“I never realized how different wines or even ales can affect the flavors of different foods,” I replied softly. “How did you learn this?”

Alistair sighed. “I suppose the benefit of growing up in a castle where no one paid much attention to me was that I could often sneak into places and quietly listen. Eamon and Isolde’s chef was trained in Orlais – since she herself was from that country. The chef would often teach techniques to the other kitchen servants. So long as Isolde didn’t catch me in the kitchens…”

“Why was it bad if you were in the kitchens?” I asked and sipped my wine.

“I was a ‘nuisance’ or ‘dirty’ and I wasn’t allowed to be ‘underfoot’ all the time.”

My eyes misted up with tears. I couldn’t understand why Isolde had treated Alistair so poorly. I mean, I knew she had thought that her husband was his father, but surely Eamon had denied this over and over to her. Was it because Eamon simply couldn’t tell her at all? I asked him this.

“I suppose that is why,” he replied thoughtfully. “Afterall, no one was supposed to know who my real father was. And because he couldn’t even tell his own wife the truth then, she continued to believe the rumors.”

“Didn’t he ever stand up for you?”

“Oh, yes. There were times where Isolde had tried to strike me. Eamon put a stop to that in a heartbeat. Perhaps that is why she took to more subtle ways of making my life miserable. When she finally got pregnant with Connor, I’d pretty much reached my breaking point. When I was told I was being sent away to school, at first I was overjoyed because I’d finally get away from Isolde… until I found out where I was being sent.”

“Bournshire?” I remembered him once telling me the name of the abbey.

“Yes. I was expecting to go to the local school in Redcliffe, where I could learn and play with other kids… get into mischief with other kids. But that school was too close to the castle, I guess. So it was off to Bournshire… quiet little abbey, quiet Brothers and Sisters, quiet so you could study, quiet so they could pray… all the time quiet!”

“Which is why you’d yell and scream and carry on from time to time?” I said with a small smile.

“Maker, you have no idea!” He held up the bottle. “More wine, love?”

“Wine not?” I giggled.

He poured until my glass was full and then set the bottle back down on the bedside table. I took a sip and then nibbled some of the cheese from the plate sitting between us on the bed.

“It wasn’t until very late in my time there that I finally had begun enjoying the lessons that were being taught,” he said, remembering.

“I know.” I put my free hand on his arm. “But may I ask a question?”

“Sure.”

“If you truly were not happy with becoming a Templar, why were you considering taking vows? You know what that entails…”

“Yes. To be honest, I just figured that was going to be my lot in life… that no one was coming to save Alistair from the trappings of a Chantry life. Even when I entered the tournament to compete for the right to possibly get out and become a Grey Warden, I figured nothing would come of it. I competed well, but there were so many others that had done better than me. I was truly surprised when Duncan said he wanted me.”

“He obviously saw something in you that was not apparent in the other competitors.” Then a thought came to me. “Did… did Duncan know you were Maric’s son?”

“I don’t think so. I mean, I know he was told of it later… but before that? I’m not sure. Either way – if he knew or not beforehand – it was a pretty big risk… making me a Grey Warden, since I was still the son of the King. However, he had apparently been reassured that I was not in line for the throne, and as far as I knew, I wasn’t. I certainly had no interest in it.”

“Until Loghain…” I didn’t even have to finish my statement. He finished it for me.

“…betrayed us all.” Alistair nodded. I had finished my wine again and he offered me the last in the bottle. I shrugged and he poured it into my glass. “Can we talk about something else?” he asked.

“You have something in mind?”

His eyes were glowing softly. “You.”

“Me? What about me?”

“I just want to say that… meeting you… was the best thing to ever happen to me.”

A blush heated my cheeks. I set down my empty wine glass. “Was this part of your plan then? Get me tipsy enough and hope I’d capitulate to your charms tonight?”

“No. I told you. I will not force anything on you. I will not kiss nor touch you… unless you want me to. As for my statement earlier, I was being sincere.”

“But what about all the wine?”

“What about it?”

“You weren’t trying to get me drunk?”

“No. You could’ve stopped any time you wanted, love. I only offered it… I didn’t force you to drink it.”

_That was true._

“And what about us on this bed together? What if… something happens in the night?”

“Would it make you feel more comfortable if I slept in the other room on the couch?” he asked. “I’ll do whatever it takes to earn your trust again.”

“No. I-I’ll sleep there… tonight.” I could see the disappointment in his eyes, but he nodded.

“At least you’ll be warm enough. There's another fireplace in there.”

I got up off the bed and walked into the sitting room. Then I lay down on the couch.

Alistair brought me a pillow. I propped it under my head and then he brought me some of the covers from the bed. He spread them out, then knelt down and tucked them around me. “Are you comfortable enough? Warm enough?” he asked softly.

“I’ll be fine, Alistair. Thank you.”

“Sleep well then, love.” He kissed his fingers and then gently touched my forehead. No darkspawn nightmares tonight.” Then he went back into the bedroom and got into the bed.

“Goodnight, Alistair,” I called out and then yawned. “See you in the morning.”

 

The next morning, we headed downstairs and met up with everyone. After a light breakfast, we then hit the streets of Denerim.

After picking up Winston from the kennels (he was very happy to see us… and happier still from the attention he was getting), we wandered all over the Market District. There were fruit and vegetable stands, knickknacks of all shapes and sizes, clothing stalls… Leliana found one that was selling shoes and stopped to look for a while.

More booths had holiday decorations, others had books. There was so much to see and do! Satinalia was a very happy time for people to get together and celebrate. Even with the constant whispers of the darkspawn and the civil war, people’s spirits couldn’t be dampened.

We passed by some stores and then I saw one with a sign that read: Wade’s Emporium. I decided to go in and see what they had to offer.

We were greeted very cheerily by a man behind the counter.

“Welcome friends, welcome to Wade’s Emporium! My name us Herren. We have the finest armors in Denerim – maybe all of Ferelden! How may we assist you?”

“So… who is Wade?” I asked.

“Well, you’re obviously not from around here, then. Wade is my partner and possibly the most brilliant armor-smith in the whole country!”

I heard an exaggerated sigh from the forge in the back of the store. “That’s not true, Herren. The dwarves of Orzammar make the finest armors around.” The man in the back stood up, placed his hands on his hips, and in a rather silly sounding whine, said, “But then, what do expect when all I have to work with are these horrible materials **you** provide me with? Everything I make is sooo worthless… compared to their work!” He gave a sniffle and waved his hands around. “You never let me have the time or the materials to make anything speciaaaal!”

I had to try and hide a smile. Wade was so overly dramatic with his voice and gestures.

“Wade, dear… We’ve talked about this now,” Herren said softly to the pouting smith.

_‘Dear?’ Oh! They are more than just business partners then!_

Herren continued, “We make armor for the soldiers and guards of Denerim primarily. That is why everything needs to be the same, other than size and fit.”

“And because of this, my creative genius is just wasting away!” Wade sniffed again. “Why can’t we move to Orzammar?”

“Because you’re claustrophobic, remember? The one time we went there, you nearly passed out.” Herren put an arm around Wade’s shoulder. “Besides, the dwarves wouldn’t want the competition from someone as brilliant as you.”

“You’re just trying to cheer me up… but it won’t work this time Herren! I need spark! I need freedom! I need…”

“Drake scales?” Zevran piped up.

Wade stopped his sniveling immediately. “D-did you say you have drake scales?”

“Yes, my friend. Quite a few, in fact.”

“Where are they? I simply **must** see them!”

“Alas, they are not with us at the moment,” Zevran said, “but I shall run right out and get them for you, yes?”

“Oh, please!” Wade exclaimed in glee.

After Zevran left, Herren came up to his partner. “Wade,” he said in a slight warning tone, “We really don’t have time for any flights of fancy! We have other orders waiting and our customers want them fulfilled in a timely fashion! Not six months later!”

“That happened only once Herren…”

“Twice…” Herren mumbled under his breath, but Wade overheard.

“ **Once**. And you’ve never let me live it down!”

Just then Zevran came back, drake scales in hand. He handed some over the Wade, who immediately let out a squee of excitement. He fingered them lovingly.

“Where did those come from?” I whispered to Zevran. “I only saw you pry off that huge dragon scale from the High Dragon we killed at Andraste’s Temple.”

“Ah, I quickly skinned a few of the smaller beasts when we were on our way back down the mountain.”

“I see,” I replied quietly. “Why didn’t you just give him the big scale, then?”

“I had heard of this armorer, Wade… this when I was in Denerim and before I met you, my friend. I’d been told he is very good at what he does, but we want him to practice on something first. Drake scales are easier to work with and they can also be made into decent armor. If he does a good job, then we can see what he can do with the High Dragon scale.”

“Makes sense.” To Wade, I then said, “How much will it cost?”

“Cost? I should be paying **you** , my friend… for the right – no, the privilege- ”

“Pay her? No, Wade, no!” Herren quickly turned to me and said, “We’ll charge you- ”

Wade fluttered his hand at Herren irritably. “I’ll hear nothing of that, Herren. This is **my** shop and working on drake scales won’t cost a bloody Orleasian penny!”

“I can pay ten extra sovereigns if you can make it good and quickly,” I said trying to appease both men.

“Excellent!!” Wade exclaimed. “You really won’t regret this!” He turned and headed back to his forge, murmuring, “Drake scales! **Real** drake scales! Think of the possibilities, Herren!!”

Herren put his hand to his head. “I’m trying to stop,” he muttered. To us, he then said, “All of you… Out. Now. I’ll… contact you once Wade is finished.”

“But we haven’t told you where we are staying…” I started.

“I’ll bloody figure it out later! Now, out!” He shoved us all out of the shop and then we heard the lock click in the door.

“Cheery bloke, wasn’t he?” Alistair smirked.

“That Wade was sure an interesting fellow,” Wynne said with a smile. “That was nice of you, Zev… giving him something unique to work with. It feels good to make others happy, doesn’t it?”

“Too bad his partner doesn’t seem to feel the same,” Leliana sighed.

“Oh, I’m sure that once he sees Wade happy, he’ll change his mind,” I said. “Come on, I heard of another store I’d like to check out… it was called ‘Wonders of Thedas’, I believe.”

“I’ve heard of them!” Wynne exclaimed. “They have all sorts of interesting magical items from all over. We simply must go there!”

“Ooh! Eamon once bought me a miniature golem doll from there on one of his trips here… you know… back when I was a kid,” Alistair said with a smile. “Do you think they still make them? It would be interesting to find out!”

“And now he truly reveals his age! Well done!” Morrigan laughed.

“Morrigan, that wasn’t very nice. You know Alistair had a difficult childhood,” I said.

Her eyes narrowed at me slightly. “Are you saying I did not? Have you forgotten who **my** mother is?”

“No, of course not! All I’m saying is that if memories of a golem doll bring Alistair happiness, we shouldn’t make fun of it.”

He leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Thank you for that, love.”

I tried to ignore the flash of heat that I felt and said, “Let’s go.”

 

On our way to the Wonders of Thedas, we saw a dwarven merchant selling his wares. Seeing him made me wonder how Bodahn and Sandal were doing back in Redcliffe.

“Dwarven crafts! Fine Dwarven crafts… direct from Orzammar!” the merchant bellowed out. He then saw us and beckoned us closer. “Is there something I can show you? We sell only the strongest dwarven steel, folded over one hundred times in- ” the merchant abruptly stopped. “Wait… Oghren? Is that you?”

Oghren chuckled. “You messed up your sales pitch there, Gorim. You were just getting to the good part too!” He laughed again. “See, this is why warriors make bad merchants!”

“You two know each other?” Alistair asked with a grin.

“Oh, we go waaay back!” Oghren smirked. “He threw me out of the palace at **least** a dozen times for calling Endrin a nug-licker!”

Gorim frowned. “What are you doing here, Oghren?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Right now, we are shopping… But in the long run, I’m fighting! It’s what **warriors** do. Oh, but don’t let me distract you from hawking your junk!”

“ **You** are fighting? With what army?” Gorim sneered. “And don’t tell me Legion of the Dead. I see you are wearing their armor… but you know as well as I that if you were really with them you don’t leave the Deep Roads until you’re dead! So you have some gall flaunting it out in the open… completely disregarding our traditions!”

Oghren puffed out his chest a bit. “Actually, I’m with the Grey Wardens here!” he said, pointing at Alistair and me. “They needed someone with my skills to help handle this Blight!”

Gorim snorted. “Sure… and I’ve got a diamond tower in Orzammar to sell you, complete with singing and dancing nugs!” Turning back to me, he then asked, “So do wish to buy something today?”

To my friends, I said, “Go on and head over The Wonders of Thedas. I’ll meet up with you.”

“Sure,” Alistair put his hand on my arm briefly. “Don’t take too long, all right?”

I nodded as they all left, Gorim giving me an odd look at dismissing my companions. After they were gone. I thought about what Gorim had said about the Legion of the Dead armor that Oghren was wearing and nodded. “I’ll take whatever you have that is better quality than what Oghren is currently wearing.”

“Ah, sure. I can get something in a few days… maybe a week. But may I ask why? That drunkard is not known to be the most… reputable sort of fellow.”

“I understand that you two have a past… but things have changed greatly for Oghren,” I said. “We fought with him down in the Deep Roads while searching for Branka…”

“So he finally conned someone into going down there with him to search for her corpse?” I frowned at Gorim. He noticed and mumbled an apology. “Sorry, Warden. Go on.”

“He didn’t ‘con’ us. He helped us. Greatly in fact. Oghren has proved himself to us as a valuable asset to our team.” I said. “But you are right about one thing. He should not be wearing the Legion’s armor when he is not a part of their unit.”

Gorim was genuinely surprised at my statement. “Very well, Warden. I will see what I can get for you. Are you staying in town for a while?”

“Yes. I can stop back by in about a week.”

“Very well. I’ll get your order placed then, Warden.”

“Thank you,” I replied and then began walking off.

“Oh, Warden?”

“Yes?” I turned back to Gorim.

“Did you… find Branka?”

“Yes, we did. Sadly, she is no longer with us anymore.”

“I see.” He paused for a moment, then said, “If he’ll take it, send my condolences to Oghren, would you?”

“I will… and thank you.”

He nodded and then went back to work.

 

Everyone was waiting outside the Wonders of Thedas for me; Alistair giving me a gentle smile as I came up to him. I could feel yet another blush heating my cheeks. _What is happening to me?_ I wondered. _Not three days ago, I was still mad at him… Now I can’t stop blushing when he looks at me!_ I sighed quietly to myself.

Together, we walked into the huge shop. A Tranquil greeted us. “Welcome to the Wonders of Thedas. We carry items crafted by the Circle, as well as a variety of other antiquities and other merchandise. Is there anything you wish to see?”

Almost all of us spoke at the same time. How the proprietor was able to understand us all surprised me, but pointed out the sections of interest to us.

“Old stories and songs can be found towards the front of the shop on your left, herbal remedy books are found in the mid-section of the shop. Naughty limericks and other poems will be found in the rear of the store. Scrolls of spells will also be found in the back, Ancient religious documents from other cultures will be on the second floor. Crystals and other magical items are found to your immediate right, dolls and other games will be found in the children’s section in the front. Is there anything else you wish to know?”

We all shook our heads and split off into the various sections. I headed over to the section with the crystals. One, because I did like them, but also I was curious if they had ant more of those augmentation crystals that Shayle could use. Towards the end of the display case, I found a few different colors than the ones Wilhelm had had in his basement. I wondered if they would work together, or if these new ones would replace the traits of the previous crystals. The other thing I noticed was that the crystals here were much clearer… not cloudy like Wilhelm’s. Perhaps these were also better quality. I decided I’d buy a few and ask Shayle’s opinion.

After another shopkeeper wrapped up my crystal purchases, I noticed a small door towards the back of the store. Curious, I made my way back there. It was tucked between two bookshelves. I quickly glanced at the titles of the books and blood rushed to my cheeks yet again. I looked around. No one was around… but more importantly, Alistair was not around. I gave a hesitant knock on the small door. It opened a crack. The air coming from within was heavily perfumed. I ducked my head down and went inside, shutting the door behind me. Within the small space, there were apparently clothes… but clothes like I had never seen in my life.

Fifteen minutes later, I left the small room with a purchase in a small box. Again, thankfully, no one saw me leave the area. I stopped, trying to calm my racing heart, and leaned against a nearby bookshelf (this one at least had rather innocuous titles).

 _What I am doing… buying something like this?_ _When would I ever find a time or a need to wear what I just bought?! I… should return it…_ But instead of doing just that, I turned and left the area.

I met up with all of my other companions and took out the gold needed to cover what they were purchasing. Though I gave Alistair a very curious look at the golem doll he was holding.

“It’s not what you think,” he smiled. “I’m buying it for Connor.”

I nodded. “That’s really nice of you.”

“What did you get?” he asked.

I hoped my face was neutral. “Oh, just some new augmentation crystals for Shayle.”

“Nice. I’m sure she’ll appreciate that.”

“I’ll go and give them to her later today… if we get a chance to head back over there.” To everyone else, I then asked, “What do you all want to do next?”

Lunch was the consensus. So after we dropped our packages off back at our rooms, and dropped Winston back off at the kennels (with another promise that we see him again tomorrow), we headed down to the docks to a different pub to go and eat.

 

Once we left the fishy smell of the docks and headed back into the fresh air, we passed by a young girl selling flowers.

“Good day. The market is busy, is it not? Come, rest here. I have a fine selection of flowers and Orleasian scented oils. For you, perhaps?” she asked me. “The oils are very relaxing in baths, yes?” To Alistair, she then said, “Roses can open any woman’s heart, you know.”

He glanced at me and murmured, “Yes… they can.”

I blushed again. I was going to end up with permanent pink cheeks if this continued. I cleared my throat and said, “You are from Orlais?”

“Yes. Your Denerim is a fine city, but I miss my Val Royeaux. She is quite beautiful at this time of year. We do not tend to get the snows that you get, but the city sparkles at night with glittering ornaments and lights.” She gave a sigh. “What I miss most are the clothes! So many colors and materials! Fine wools, satins, and silks – many only the noble born can afford. Ferelden is a bit more… muted. Its fashions are quite old. But I do like the people of this city very much.”

We chatted for a bit more and then turned to leave. As Leliana walked by, the young girl grabbed her wrist.

“What are you…” Leliana stared at the girl. “Let me go!”

“She is waiting for you. You'd best go to the address you were provided.” The girl then let go of Leliana and turned to another potential customer.

“What was that all about?” I asked.

“Time to apparently settle my affairs,” she said softly. She took the paper out of her pack and glanced at it. “You are coming, yes?”

We all nodded.

 

Close to the Denerim palace, we came upon a rich looking two-story house.

Leliana glanced at the scrap of paper that the mercenary had given to her. “This is the right address. Trust Marjolaine to go for something so ostentatious looking while here in Ferelden. She opened the front door.

Immediately, we were set upon by two heavily armed guards. Splitting into groups of four, we quickly made short work of them. We then opened the door to the actual interior of the home. A woman in a fancy, elegant dress greeted us with a disdainful frown.

“Rather rude of you to barge into my home in such a fashion, don’t you think?” Her accent was even thicker than Leliana’s.

“Are you Marjolaine?” I asked.

“And who are you to ask? I do not know you!” she huffed.

“But you know **me** ,” Leliana said softly and stepped in front of me.

Marjolaine’s eyes widened in surprise. “Leliana! How lovely to see you again, my dear!” She blew two kisses on both sides of Leliana’s face.

Leliana frowned. “Spare me the pleasantries. I know why you’re - ”

Marjolaine cut her off with a fluttery wave of her hand. “Oh, you simply **must** excuse the shabby accommodations here! These Ferelden shacks are so… poorly constructed! I try to be a good host, but you see what I have to work with?” She flounced around the room, then said, “Oh, and this country! It smells like wet dog! It is everywhere! I cannot get the smell out! Even now, it is in my hair, my clothes… ugh!” She wrinkled her nose in such a fashion that I might have laughed, were we not here for more serious reasons.

“Ferelden doesn’t smell like wet dogs,” I heard Alistair grouse.

Getting to the point, I said, “We killed those assassins you sent after Leliana.”

Marjolaine quirked a brow at me. “So businesslike… your friend here.”

Leliana had tears shining in her eyes. “What happened to make you hate me so? Why did you send people to kill me?”

Marjolaine let out an airy sounding huff. “Kill you?” she laughed. “Nonsense, my dear Leliana! They were merely messengers… giving you cause to come and see me! And now, here you are!”

“You could have just sent a letter…” Alistair said with a smirk.

Marjolaine ignored him. “I know full well what you are capable of, my sweet Leliana. Four, five men… you can dispatch easily on your own.”

“There were a lot more than four or five men in that group you sent,” I replied with a sneer.

“Precisely why I sent more! I knew my sweet was not traveling alone!” She eyed me cautiously. “You have certainly acquired some _**interesting**_ friends, my dear Leli. A witch dressed in rags,” Morrigan face burned in anger at that. I put my hand on her arm to calm her for the moment. Marjolaine continued, “a frail, old woman…”

“I’ll show **you** who is old…” Wynne muttered.

“And these men here? A pathetic drunk dwarf, a scrawny knife-ear,” Zevran tightened his hands on his daggers. “The giant Qunari looks intimidating, but I bet he is all bark, no bite,” Marjolaine tittered. Sten’s face darkened with rage. Marjolaine then stopped in front of Alistair. “Now _**this**_ one is at least fair of face. Not a bad body… tall and strong.” She ran her fingers down his chest, then had the audacity to cup her hand on his crotch. “Ooh, and nicely endowed, he is!” I saw Alistair gulp.

“Get your hands off him, you bitch,” I snarled.

“Oh, right!” Marjolaine stepped back from Alistair. “Then there is **you**.” She stood in front of me. “Skinny, pale, and sickly-looking. You appear to be in charge of this strange motley crew, but for how long? You certainly don’t look like a threat to me.”

“You want to see just how big a threat I can be?” I arced some lightning between my fingers and then gave Marjolaine a shove back, the lightning giving her a mild shock.

“Wh- How rude!” she huffed, then gave me a sly smile. “Oh, by the way, sweet. If that was supposed to hurt… that was just pathetic.”

“Stop it, Marjolaine!” Leliana almost shouted. She then quickly pulled me aside and whispered, “ Don’t you see what she is trying to do? She is a manipulator! She’s trying to get you riled up on purpose! She _wants_ you to attack her first! She has traps and other men hidden all over this house!” She took a quick calming breath. “Let me deal with her, please.”

I nodded, though I was still more than a bit angry.

“Le-li-an-nah…” Marjolaine said in a sickly-sweet, sing-song voice, “What are you whispering behind my baaack?”

Leliana turned to face her once-lover and friend. “What are you up to, Marjolaine? Why are you really here in Ferelden?”

“In truth?” Marjolaine frowned. “You have knowledge that you can still use against me. For my own safety, I cannot let you leave here alive.”

I started to move forward, but Leliana held me back. “How did you know where I was?”

Marjolaine laughed, high-pitched and annoying. “Did you truly think that I did not know where you were all along? Did you think I would not watch **my** Leliana?” She brushed her hand down Leliana’s cheek and purred, “Of course I did! ‘What is she up to?’ I thought. ‘This quiet life, these pathetic, peasant Chantry robes, hair ragged and messy like a boy? This is not her!’ No. You were planning something, I told myself. So I watched… and waited… but no letters were sent. No messages received. You barely spoke to anyone!” She stalked in a circle around Leliana, then stopped in front of her and gripped her chin tightly.

“Clever, Leliana, very clever! You almost had me fooled! But then you left the Chantry so suddenly! What conclusion should I draw? You tell me!”

Leliana pushed Marjolaine’s hand away from her face. “You think I left the Chantry because of… you?! You still think I have some plan for revenge? You are insane! Paranoid! Not everything is about you, Marjolaine!”

“She is with us, now. The Blight is what concerns Leliana, not you…” I said.

Marjolaine scoffed. “Oh? Is that what you think? I would believe nothing she says! Not one word! She will use you. You look at her and you see a simple girl – a friend, trusting and warm. It is nothing more than an act!”

“I am not you, Marjolaine! I left because I didn’t want to become you!” Leliana cried.

Marjolaine gave that annoying, tittering laugh again. _Maker,_ I thought. _Does everyone in Orlais talk and laugh the way she does? If so, I hope I never have to go there!_

“Oh, but you **are** me, my darling Leliana!” Marjolaine said with another laugh. “You cannot escape it. No one will understand you the way that _**I**_ do… because we are one and the same! You know why you were a master spy, just as I do. You enjoyed the game; you reveled in the power that it gave you. You cannot change or deny it!”

“No matter Leliana’s past, we believe in her now, no matter what you say,” I said firmly. Everyone around me nodded in agreement.

Leliana faced us, tears shining in her eyes. “Thank you… all of you.” Back to Marjolaine, she then said, “You will not threaten me or my friends again! I want you out of my life… for good!”

“We can’t let her get away with this,” I said to Leli softly. “She hurt you, she insulted all of us! If we let her go, she’ll find a way to come after you again.”

For just a split moment before responding, Leliana held up two fingers, pointed left, five fingers, then pointed up, and lastly three fingers and left. I immediately got what she was signaling. She was telling us where the rest of Marjolaine’s people were roughly hiding. I quickly whispered this to Zevran, who then began to spread the word to the others.

With a determined, hard look to her face, Leli nodded once. “You’ve caused too much pain for too many, Marjolaine! It ends here!”

“Hah!” Marjolaine waved dismissively. “You think you can kill me, just like that? I **made** you, Leliana, and I can destroy you just as easily!”

She ran over to a large sofa in the room and grabbed the longbow that had been lying there. As she pulled out arrows and aimed at us she began to sing an odd song. It seemed to be sapping my will to fight back.

Leliana shook me and quickly said, “She’s trying to lull you into complacency! It’s a bardic ability. You must tune it out!”

“How?” I shouted as the rest of Marjolaine’s men and women stormed into the great room and began attacking.

“I can counteract it,” Leliana said, “but then I will be temporarily unable to fight. You must protect me!”

I nodded and Leliana began to sing. Her strong and clear voice drowning out Marjolaine’s. I covered Leliana and used what spells I could to take out the other mages and archers who were attacking from a distance. Morrigan aided me with spells of her own.

Alistair, Zevran, Sten, and Oghren all focused on the remaining melee fighters until eventually, only Marjolaine was left. Both bards stopped singing and stared down at each other.

“You will never escape me, Leliana,” Marjolaine said as she tossed her bow aside and began backing away. “I will find you again! This is not over between us!”

“Marjolaine, you are wrong. It is over.” Leliana quickly nocked an arrow and let it fly. It went through Marjolaine’s heart and she fell over… dead.

Leliana walked over and crouched down beside Marjolaine’s corpse. I saw her smooth the hair away from her face. There was silence… and then a soft sob.

“Leliana?” I knelt down next to her. “Are you… all right?”

“It’s over,” she whispered. “She’s dead.”

“But… this is good, yes? She won’t bother you anymore.”

She turned to look at me. Tears were running down Leliana’s face. “She’s dead because of me! I-I need some time to myself…” She got up and began to walk out of the house.

“Leli, please. We can talk about it.”

Leliana shook her head and ran out the door. I started to go after her.

Zevran stopped me. “Let her go. I too, know what it is like to lose a close companion… someone you once loved.” I waited to see if he would elaborate, but instead, he said, “I’ll keep an eye on her. Worry not.” He then vanished into stealth and followed Leliana’s trail.

“Well, that deserves a drink!” Oghren smirked. Before another word could be said to stop him, he was out the door.

“I’m heading back to the inn,” Sten said gruffly. “If you need me for anything, kadan, just come and get me.”

I numbly nodded as he left. Then looked around the house in horror.

“What are we going to do about the bodies?” Alistair asked with a worried look on his face. “If anyone finds out we were connected to this…”

“I hate to say this,” Wynne replied, “but I am afraid we will have to hide them. Alistair is right. We cannot get caught up in this kind of situation while we are here.”

Morrigan looked at my old teacher with shock. “You? You want to help us hide the bodies?”

“I don’t like this at all, Morrigan. What we did was wrong, helping Leliana with murder, but we cannot go back and undo it now.”

“But they attacked us first,” I started to say. Wynne wasn’t going to have it though.

“You and Leliana both could have just left well enough alone and let the woman go. But no, you goaded her into attacking! However, as I said, it is too late to change what was done. Once we take care of this mess and cover it up, I will be going to the Chantry and asking for forgiveness. I suggest you all do the same.”

“I don’t believe in the Maker,” Morrigan stated bluntly.

“Then ask whomever you **do** believe in for forgiveness!” Wynne replied with a frown. “Now let’s get this done.”

 

“Damn,” Alistair muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. “Kind of wish Sten had stuck around to help. We could’ve used the extra muscle.”

“I agree,” I said, as I dragged one of the bodies towards the cellar we had found in the back of the house. “Pity also that Shayle has to stay by our cart just to make sure none of our stuff gets stolen while we are here. She could have had this done in no time flat… not to mention, how would you arrest a golem?”

Alistair actually chuckled until he caught Wynne frowning at him… at us both.

“Both of you, do **not** make light of this situation! There is nothing humorous about it.”

Alistair cleared his throat. “Sorry, you’re right Wynne. C’mon… Let’s just get this done.” Still, I caught his glance at me with a half smile and I had to turn away to keep from grinning back.

Once all of the bodies had been dumped at the far end of the cellar, we shut and locked the door leading down. I then cast a cleaning spell to get rid of the bloodstains on the walls and floor.

“I hate to say this, but I suppose it is a good thing it’s the middle of winter here. With any luck, no one will find the corp-” Alistair saw Wynne’s glare. “Ah, the um… victims? Yes… the victims… until summer?”

Wynne sighed. “As if this truly eases my conscience.”

“’Tis a good idea that we probably leave the back way,” Morrigan said.

“Yes, definitely. Let’s go.”

 

Once outside, Wynne turned to us and repeated her earlier request that we all go to the Chantry to ask forgiveness for our transgression.

“We’ll head there later, okay?” I told her. “I promise.”

When she caught Wynne staring at her, Morrigan blew out a frustrated breath. “Fine,” she groused. “I’ll go see if I can figure out what any Chasind would have done under a similar circumstance. Will that make you happy?”

“I suppose it will have to do,” Wynne replied with sadness. She then turned and headed in the direction of the Denerim Chantry.

Morrigan rolled her eyes after she had left. Then without another word, she changed into a raven and flew off.

Once she was gone and we were alone in the back alley, I sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Alistair asked.

“What Marjolaine said to me. I-I’m not… sickly-looking… am I?” I asked with a worried tone.

“You look a bit tired, love… but other than that, you look fine to me. Don’t let what she said worry you.” He then turned and gave me a huge smile.

“All right, I’ll bite. What’s with the grin?” I asked.

“You.”

“Me, what?”

“You were jealous in there,” Alistair sniggered.

I took a step back in shock. “I… was not!”

His smile grew wider. “Then what was with the ‘get your hands off of him, you bitch’ statement from you in there all about?”

“Th-that was… not what you think!” I sputtered.

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, really!”

“Then what was it about?” he asked, turning serious.

“S-she just had no business touching you like that!”

“I see.” He stared deep into my eyes. I could his own flickering gold. A smile curled the corner of mouth again and he leaned down to whisper in my ear, “Methinks, milady doth protest too much.”

His hot breath against my ear made me shiver. A blush heated my cheeks. _I should have known my eyes would give me away,_ I thought _._ “Okay, fine. I was a **little** bit jealous,” I mumbled.

“I’ll take that,” he said softly as he stood back up, “as a step back in the right direction for us.”

 

We wandered out of the alleyway and made our way back east towards the Market District. All of a sudden, Alistair put his hand on my shoulder and stopped me.

“What?” I asked.

“That’s… my sister’s house. I’m almost sure of it!” He pointed to a small home along a row of other small houses. “I didn’t realize it was so close! This is… yes. This is the right address. She could be inside! Could we… go inside and see?”

“Are you sure you want me tagging along? Wouldn’t you want to meet her on your own at first?”

“Do I seem a little nervous? I am. I really don’t know what to expect.” He grabbed my hand and held it tightly. “Please, I’d like you to come in there with me…”

I looked into his earnest eyes. He seemed to be almost pleading me.

“All right, Alistair. If it makes you feel better, I’ll go in there with you.”

“Great!” He gave my hand a squeeze, then said, “Will she even know who I am, I wonder? Does she even know I exist? My sister… Siiiister… That sounds a little strange, doesn’t it? Hmm, I babbling now. Maybe we should just go on in, yes?”

“Let’s knock first, all right?”

“Okay.”

From inside the modest home, we heard a faint, “C’mon in! Door’s open!” I opened the door slowly and Alistair and I walked in.

“Er, um… Hello?”

A woman appeared from the back of the home. Her hair was darker than Alistair’s and she had green eyes. Personally, I thought she didn’t look much like him, but I kept it to myself. “Eh? You have linens to wash? I charge a sov for a bundle; you won’t find better. Don’t trust what that Natalia woman from down the street tells you neither! She’s foreign and she’ll rob you blind!”

“Um… I’m not here to have any wash done. My name is Alistair and well… this may sound sort of strange, but are you Goldanna? If so, I suppose I am… your brother.”

“My what? I am Goldanna, yes. How do you know my name? What kind of tomfoolery are you folk up to?”

“Are you sure your information was correct, Alistair?” I whispered to him.

As Goldanna stared at us both with suspicion, he leaned down for a moment and whispered back quickly, “Yes, I… I think so. I’m sure of it, in fact.” Looking back at his sister, he then said, “Look, our mother? She worked as a servant in Redcliffe castle a long time ago… before she died. So do you remember anything about this?”

At first, Goldanna’s eyes widened in surprise, then quickly narrowed into hateful slits. “You?! I knew it! They told me you was dead… but I knew they was lying!”

“T-they told you I was dead? Who? Who told you that?”

“Them’s at the castle! Mum told them her babe was the king’s. I thought then mum and I would finally be better off, her carrying a royal bastard… until your birth killed her! My mum! Then later they told me you was dead, gave me coin to shut my mouth and sent me away! Whole thing seemed bloody suspicious…”

“I’m sorry,” Alistair said softly, “I… didn’t know that. The babe didn’t die. I’m him. I’m… your brother.”

“Fat lot of good it does me!” Goldanna scoffed. “You killed my mum, you did, and I was just barely old enough! When the coin ran out, I went back and they ran me off! I’ve had to scrape by all this time on my own!”

“That’s hardly Alistair’s fault, is it?” I told her with a frown.

Goldanna sneered at me. “And who in the bloody Maker’s name are you? Some tart, following after his riches, no doubt!”

“Hey!” Alistair exclaimed. “Don’t you speak to her that way! She’s my friend and a Grey Warden! Just like me!”

Goldanna rolled her eyes. “Ooohh, I see! A Prince and a Grey Warden, too? Well, who am I to think poorly of someone so ‘igh an’ mighty compared to me?!” She took a few steps forward and stared right into Alistair’s face. “I don’t know you, **boy**. Your royal father took advantage of my poor mother! Then you come along and kill her… and what do I got to show for all this?! Nothing! They tricked me good! I should have figured they was lying all along! I should have told everyone the truth! I’ve got five mouths to feed, an’ unless you can help with that, I’ve got less than no use for you!”

“I-I’m sorry,” Alistair replied sadly as he stared at the floor. “I… I don’t know what to say…”

“Goldanna,” I said, trying to keep my temper in check, “Alistair came here hoping to find his family. You've got some nerve talking to your brother like this!”

“Hrmph, that so? Well, he isn’t any brother I didn’t have before he walked through my door. So unless he can make himself useful to me and my children, then he can just walk right back out of it, can’t he?”

“Goldanna… sister… please,” Alistair pleaded.

“You are nothing to me, boy… ‘cept the one who took my mum away from me!”

“Y-you think I wished her dead? I never wanted that!” Alistair was near tears. “I haven’t had the life you think, Goldanna.”

“Well, whatever life you had then don’t matter to the life you’ll have now! The King is dead and they’ll be putting you in his place no doubt. So why don’t you just go on to them ‘igh an’ mighty folk you’ll be dealin’ with and you tell them you have nieces and nephews who ain’t living the life they should! Do the proper thing and help your poor family out!”

“It looks like all she wants is money. Let’s go, Alistair. There is nothing for you here.”

“Yes, it really seems that way, doesn’t it? I wasn’t expecting my sister to be so… I’m starting to wonder why I came.”

“I don’t know why you came, either, or what you expected to find… but it isn’t here! Now get outta my house! The both of you!”

We both left and Alistair shut the door. The devastation on his face said much. He swallowed and he tried to form words – to say something – but nothing came out. He closed his eyes for a moment, then shook his head. Next thing I knew, he was sprinting away from Goldanna’s home and her hate.

Livid at what she had done to him, I reached down to the ground and picked up a smooth stone. Muttering a spell, I drew my finger across the rock and traced a complex rune onto its surface. Once done, I marched back into Goldanna’s home without any announcement.

She came from the back again when she heard the door open. When she saw it was me, she screeched, “What in the bloody void are you doing back in my home! I thought I told you to leave!”

I spoke another spell quickly and then handed the runestone to her.

“What the fuck is this for?”

“Just a little hex for you, you bitch.” Then I gave an evil smile and walked out the door. “Have a nice day!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I did tweak some of the NPCs personalities just a bit... lol! Creative license... ^_^ I also expanded the size of Denerim from what you can access in-game... mainly because it is the CAPTIAL CITY! It needs to be bigger! XD Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Whew, another chapter that was intended to be one, split into two again! Stay tuned for more Denerim adventures... coming soon! ^_^


	32. Denerim (part 2) - Together Again? (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the days leading up to Satinalia, Alistair tries to charm his way back into Kylara's heart. Will they finally get back together?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Incredible art of Alistair and Kylara on Satinalia Eve, by the fabulous LadyTherin (http://shepofshipsart.tumblr.com)
> 
> And a little shout-out to my writing sister-in-arms, Anjelica_Grey, as I have her favorite Dragon Age song quoted in this chapter! ^_~

I searched up and down the streets of Denerim looking for Alistair. Finally, I found him in the narrow alleyway behind the Gnawed Noble. How he’d managed to get his tall frame in such a small space baffled me. I wedged myself in, sat down next to him, and leaned my head against his arm. I heard him sob softly.

“I’m so sorry Alistair… that your visit turned out that way.”

“This is the family I’d been wondering about all my life? That… **bitch** is my sister? I just… can’t believe it.” I took his hand into mine and gave it a squeeze. He sighed. “I… I guess I was just expecting her to accept me without question. I thought that was what a real family would do. I… I feel like a complete and utter fool.”

“You’re not. But most people are out only for themselves. You must really start looking out for yourself.” I gave his hand another squeeze.

“You mean… I should stand up for what I believe more often?”

“Yes, Ali. If someone says something to you that you feel is wrong, make your feelings known. Speak up. Don’t keep silent. This will really help you…” I couldn’t finish what I was going to say – _when you become King…_ because I knew what it would mean for me… and I was afraid.

“Ali? You've never called me that before,” he gave a small smile. “I… I really like that.” He tenderly kissed the top of my head.

“You don’t need her,” I said softly. “You have other people who care about you…”

“Like… you?”

“Yes,” I whispered. I could deny it no longer. I was falling for him again.

“Thank you…” He was silent for a moment, then asked, “This may seem like a totally random question, but do we still have that crate of clothes that Isolde gave to us? You know… the ones she gave us as kind of a half-hearted apology?”

“I think so… Pretty sure they’re in the cart. Why?”

“I want to do something really special for you. But we are going to need some nicer things to wear.”

“Why do you want to do this?”

“Because you’ve been with me from the beginning… through good and bad. Thick and thin. You can also, if you like, think of it as a true apology for the way I treated you after Ostagar and West Hill…”

“You don’t have to- ” I started to say.

He put a finger to my lips. “But I want to. You are worth it… to me.”

I was quiet for a bit, then murmured, “If you really want to, then I guess that will be all right.” I stood up from the dusty alleyway and brushed off my robe. Then I held out my hand to assist Alistair in getting up from his cramped position. “Just… nothing crazy, okay?”

“It’s a deal, love.”

We both headed inside the inn and to our room. Once there, I grabbed the bag of crystals that I’d bought for Shayle. “Might as well give them to her, since I’m heading to the cart. Guess I can also check on the horses while I’m there too.”

“I’ll be here when you return then.”

I nodded. While Alistair busied himself with something in the sitting room, I quickly checked to make sure my other purchase from the Wonders of Thedas was still hidden under the bed. _Why do I still have this?!_ _I_ _really_ _should take it with me and return it on my way to the cart…_

But when I left the room a moment later, the box was still under the bed.

 

“Hello Shayle,” I said as I approached. “Things are going all right for you?”

“Its spell is working wonders,” she gave me a grin. “Not a single bird has been able to come anywhere near me. As for its belongings, a few people have tried to come up and get into the cart, but then they see me… and quickly run away.”

“That doesn’t bother you?” I hoped she wasn’t going to be upset, but to my surprise, she laughed.

“It is concerned about my feelings? Thank you, but you need not worry. After thirty years of not being able to do anything about the humans of Shadmoor making fun of me, defacing me, or other not so pleasant things to me… I am finding much humor in scaring them away. What has given me the greatest humor are the ones who have come back in the middle of the night, thinking I’d be asleep!” She laughed – a sound akin to rocks grinding together. “Besides, I said I would protect its belongings, and I will do just that.”

“Thank you, Shayle. That means a lot to us.”

“But I also assume it did not come here to just chat with me, though I do appreciate it.”

“Actually, Alistair wanted me to come and get a few items from the cart. He… wants to do something special for me.” I replied quietly.

“Is it considering getting back together with the other Warden then?” Shayle cocked her head at me. “That would make me… happy.”

“Really? Why?”

“When it… had the fight with the other Warden, I remember how sad it was; how the crystal on its neck stopped shining… I really would like to see it smiling again.” She paused for a moment, then said, “The crystal necklace it shares with the other Warden… it is not shining now, but there are flecks of color in it again. Hmmm… that **is** interesting.”

Curious, I asked, “Why is it interesting to you?”

“Since I am a rock golem, and I use crystals to enhance my abilities, I am sensitive to the properties of them. Yet, I have never seen crystals like the ones it shares with the other Warden. They are… rather unique. Where did it find them?”

Omitting the part about how sex with Alistair seemed to have something to do with their magic, I simply explained, “We found the rock containing them on the shore of Lake Calenhad. My… magic may have altered the rock somehow, but that is all we understand about them ourselves. Even a master jeweler in Orzammar had never seen a crystal like it before… though he told Alistair that it seemed to share properties with lyrium, but without the negative side-effects.”

Shayle seemed to think about that for a moment, then said, “Would it mind if I took a closer look at it?”

“No, I don’t mind, but the clasp of the chain doesn’t want to come loose, so I can’t take it off.”

“Understood.” She held her large hands together and told me to sit on them. I did so and she lifted me up so that she could get a better view of my crystal. A moment passed in silence and then she lowered me back to the ground.

“Any ideas?” I asked.

She shook her stone head. “I’ve never seen a crystal like it anywhere before.” She seemed to pause in thought for a moment, then asked, “Besides reacting to its emotional state with the other Warden – which I do still find most curious – what exactly do they do for it?”

“Mine seems to hold onto any excess magic… and his seems to hold onto energy.”

“Is that why it occasionally put its hand on the crystal when we were fighting in the Deep Roads? It was accessing its extra magic and energy?”

“So you noticed that?” I asked with a smile. “Yes. The Deep Roads were especially hard on Alistair and me, since we are the only ones who can sense the darkspawn from afar. As we were running low on potions, we had to rely on the power being held by the crystals.” I gave a sigh. “But even that ran out before we were finished down there. I am glad we had them, however. The fighting could have turned out a lot worse… had we not had access to that extra magic and energy.”

“Why did it not share these crystals with the rest of the group? It could have given extra magic and energy to everyone.”

“I had thought about that once or twice while we were down there, but something tells me – especially after seeing what happened to the crystals when we… separated – that they only work for us.”

“Because the chains will not come loose?”

“Yes. That too.”

“Very interesting.”

“It is just something that we will eventually figure out.” I then reached down and picked up the bag of augmentation crystals I had bought for her. “Besides coming to get some items from the cart, I got these for you at the Wonders of Thedas store.” I handed her the first one.

“Oh! I haven’t seen a crystal of this quality for quite some time!”

“What does this color do for you… and will it work with the other one you already have?”

“Sadly, no. They do not work in conjunction. Can it imagine how pretty and colorful I’d look if they did?” She sighed as I hid a smile. “As for this particular crystal, the will replace the fire with lightning. With a crystal of this quality, you will even see little sparks jumping from crystal to crystal on my wrists. The overall effect will be quite striking.” She plucked the crystal from my hand and eagerly swallowed it.

Bemused, I asked, “Does it… taste like anything?”

“Since I lack the ability to taste, no,” she chuckled, “I can feel the electricity, however. This crystal quality is quite potent. Thanks.”

“I have one other for you… I hope it is the other kind – the defense one? I have to admit, I couldn’t be sure when I purchased them. They both looked similar in color.” I handed her the second crystal.

“This is a defense one. This will provide ‘spirit’ protection… attacks against the mind. This should provide extremely useful for me since I no longer have a control rod.” She swallowed it. The green crystals that had been on her shoulders were now replaced with ones that pulsed with an eerie purple glow. “I thank it very much for these.”

“You are welcome, Shayle. Now… I need to get into this cart and find those clothes that Isolde left us.”

“Who is that?” she asked as she gave me a boost into the cart.

“Isolde? That’s right. You haven’t met her yet. She is Arl Eamon’s wife and together they rule Redcliffe. You remember me telling you once that Arl Eamon helped to raise Alistair, yes? That Eamon was like his father?”

“I believe so… yes, I do remember that. So the Isolde – she was a mother to the other Warden?”

“Hardly! She was actually quite hostile to him. Alistair told me she used to punish him for the smallest, most insignificant reasons… all because she thought her husband was his father.”

“But it is the son of the former King, yes? Which will make it King someday… so how could the Eamon have been its father?”

“This is true, Shayle… but no one back then was supposed to know that truth. So the rumors were that Eamon was Alistair’s father… and Isolde resented that.”

Shayle looked cross upon hearing that bit of news. “Do you think it may want me to squash the Isolde?” she asked.

I almost burst out in laughter. “Ah… no. As tempting as that may be, we need to keep Eamon on our side… Squashing his wife might not be a good idea.” I found the box and opened it. “Besides, she knows the truth now. She gave Alistair and I these clothes as a sort of ‘I’m sorry’ gift. A bit on the weak side for an apology… but there isn’t much else I can do about it since we are here and she is still in Redcliffe. I _might_ have some words with her in private once we return to Redcliffe. We will see.”

I dug through the box and ended up finding a pretty light blue gown that I could possibly wear, though it was a bit thin for winter-wear. I could not find anything suitable for Alistair, since all of the nicer outfits would be too short on him. I closed the box and sat down on it. _Isolde should have know that none of her husband’s, or even Teagan’s, fancy old clothes would fit Alistair’s tall and muscular frame. Just because the casual c_ _lothes can fit…_ I shook my head and sighed.

“Hello there, Kylara,” Leliana said as I saw her and Zevran approach. “And hello to you as well, Shayle.”

“The bard has interesting footwear,” Shayle commented. I then noticed she had on a new pair of boots and smiled. _Leli sure does love her shoes!_

“Oh? Do you like shoes too?” Leliana asked, showing off the fine deep blue leather.

“My mass is considerable. Some cushioning on my feet would be ideal, but I doubt such footwear could be made,” Shayle sighed.

I grinned at the thought of Shayle in shoes.

“Hmm. I could see some nice, hefty sandals being made. With very thick leather straps. Oh yes, that could be done! Perhaps we could find somecobbler who could give it a try!” Leliana gushed. “What color would you want?”

Shayle seemed perplexed. “Color? Surely the color is unimportant…”

I glanced at Zevran. He was also definitely holding back a smile.

Leliana continued on unaware, “Oh yes! In fact, color is very important. That, and picking a shape that makes your ankles look slender… and you could use some help there, I fear.”

Shayle looked shocked. “I… have thick ankles?”

“It's all right,” Leliana gently touched Shayle’s arm. “I don't like my thighs. What's important is working with what you have.”

 _Maker preserve me!_ I was trying so hard not to burst out in laughter.

“Hmm. Very well. I wish my shoes to be red,” Shayle stated.

“Ooh! Bold choice! I’ll have to remember that!” Then Leli looked at me. “Are you all right, Kylara? Your face is all flushed.”

“I’m fine,” I took a few deep breaths, trying to get myself to calm down. “Really, I am okay.” I cleared my throat and asked, “So what brings you both into the area?”

“Zev and I just stopped by Marjolaine’s house. I am so sorry that I left you there with that burden… cleaning up my mess. I shouldn’t have left you there alone to deal with it. But I thank you… for your discretion.”

“Leliana, it’s okay. Wynne, Morrigan, and Alistair all helped too. Marjolaine still meant something to you… even in the end.”

“Yes. Time heals all wounds, so they say. Scars remain, but they are just… colors in the painting that is my life. I wish things could have happened differently… but knowing her and knowing me, I don't think it could have.” She sighed. “But there is another reason I stopped by. I know you were concerned about having enough gold to cover our stay here… and while I did find a job that I can work with some happiness while we are here, Zev and I found several bags of sovereigns in her house… so we took some. I wanted to give them to you.” **32** She handed me two leather bags.

My eyes bugged out in surprise when I peered into each bag. “Leliana!” My voice was a harsh whisper. “There must be close to five hundred sovereigns here!” I glanced around nervously. “No one saw you take them?”

Zev buffed his fingernails against his leather armor. “My dear Warden, surely you know I am a master at stealth and sneakiness. Of course, no one saw me.” Leliana nudged him and he grinned at her. “Us. No one saw us.”

“Point is, Kylara, though I loved her, she did betray me. I figured she owed me. So if this gold can help us, I want you to have it. There is more there too if we need it.”

“Thank you, Leliana. This will undoubtedly help, but let’s not mention this to Wynne. She was already a bit cross with the whole ‘murder and hide the bodies’ bit. Let’s not add stealing money to that list, or she’ll have us all doing penance at the Chantry.” I then realized how crass that sounded and slapped my hand over my mouth in embarrassment.

“I already asked for forgiveness from the Maker.” Leliana gave a gentle smile. “I think even He would understand… under the circumstances.” Then she noticed the dress I was holding. “What is that for?”

My cheeks turned pink. “Alistair wants to take me out for a dinner and do something else special… I found something I can wear… but the stuff Isolde gave us doesn’t have anything appropriate for Alistair to wear.”

“Really? Well then, fortuitous that I stopped by… and with money. That dress is pretty, but I think we can do better.” She gave me a grin. “Let’s do a little shopping.”

 

A few hours later, the sun was beginning to set and I was finally heading back to the Gnawed Noble. _Alistair is probably wondering what took so long!_ Then I stopped. _Wait… I was_ _furious_ _at him only a_ _week_ _ago! Wh_ _y am I_ _getting excited over this –_ _giggling like a child when I was shopping with Leli!_ I sighed. My heart’s inner voice continued. _Face it!_ _You_ _have it bad for him… and_ _you_ _knew it was only a matter of time before this would happe_ _n again._ _You might as well give in!_

Then my more rational voice had to kick in. _And what happens after the Blight is over and they crown him as the new King?! You know he will be forced to break it off with you… leaving you miserable and alone!_ _What will you do then?!_

Subdued, I walked upstairs to the room I was sharing with him. It was not locked, so I walked in and headed to the bureau to put the clothes I’d bought away.

I had just finished when a pair of warm, strong arms embraced me from behind. I was still deep in my thoughts, so it actually startled me. I squeaked out my surprise.

“Are you okay? You were gone for so long, I was starting to worry.” Alistair said as he let me go. I turned to face him and then immediately turned bright red! Hair and body still spotted with water droplets, he was wearing nothing but a towel around his lean hips.

“Maker’s Breath, Alistair! Y-you’re almost naked!”

Eyebrows raised quizzically, he gave a half-grin. “Yessss? This is a problem? I know you’ve seen me in far less than a towel…” he said, mimicking the same words I had spoken to him back at the Wolf’s Howl in West Hill.

“And I thought I asked you to please not force anything on me! We are _not_ together right now… You need to respect my wishes!”

“All right… all right. Calm down, love. Let me go get something on, then you can tell me what took so long, okay?”

He disappeared behind the screen for a moment, then returned wearing a pair of leather breeches. He had no shirt on, which still bugged me a bit, but I could at least deal with it. He then took my hand, led me into the sitting room, and had me sit on the couch with him. He gestured for me to tell my tale.

“Shayle is doing just fine over by the cart,” I started. “She said a few people have tried to get into our stuff, but she had deterred them every time. She actually seems to be enjoying her ‘guard duty’.”

“Well, that’s good, I suppose. Did you give her the augmentation crystals you bought for her?”

“Yes, and she was quite surprised by them. Apparently, the ones I bought were much higher quality.” I gave a smile. “She looks quite intimidating now.”

He laughed. “As if she wasn’t intimidating enough!”

“I also saw Leliana and Zevran. They came up to the cart while I was looking for clothes.”

“Anything going on with them? Leliana is okay now?”

“She apologized for leaving us alone but thanked us for taking care of the bodies. She and Zevran went back into the house and found several bags of gold sovereigns. She gave me two of them… Said that figured that Marjolaine ‘owed’ her.”

“I see,” Alistair said thoughtfully. “How much gold was it?”

“Probably close to five hundred sovereigns.”

“That is a lot of gold. Do we really need it? After all, Eamon and Teagan- ”

“I know, Alistair,” I said, interrupting him, “I know they said we could expense stuff to them, but I still don’t feel right about that. For the cost of the places we are staying and an occasional meal, it is fine… but what about the other things we need to buy while here? We have more armor to buy and repair, same with weapons as well… and there is that thing you wanted to do for me. How do you think they would react if they knew you were not only still seeing me in defiance to what they want for you, but also treating me to nice things?”

He seemed to get a little angry about that. “And what is wrong with treating you? You are fighting just as hard as I am! You deserve nice things!”

“I am not against that… but for it, should we not have our own gold to cover it? If Leliana wants to give me this gold from Marjolaine – who frankly, was a bitch – then why turn it down? It’s not like **she** has any use for it now.”

Calming down, he said with a smirk, “Well, when you put it **that** way…” He then nodded. “I suppose you are right. Who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?”

“I still plan on also going to the Chantry to see if there is any work available. Can’t hurt to do some good deeds in town… considering we’re in the viper’s nest here.”

“Good idea. We can spend the morning doing some of that since I do have something planned for us a few days after Satinalia.”

“What?” I asked with curiosity.

“I will not say, but I think you will enjoy it… and now, come to think of it, it probably was a good idea that Leliana gave us some gold. I would have had some difficulty explaining that cost to Eamon.”

“Alistair,” I said warningly, “I told you… Nothing crazy!”

“It isn’t crazy… but getting the tickets at the last minute did cost a bit extra.”

“Tickets? What for?”

“You will find out in about a week, love. Alright? I was hoping to get an earlier show, but due to the holiday, they were sold out.” He then glanced back at the bedroom, towards where the bureau was approximately located. “I take it you were able to get something for us to wear?”

“There were a few dress options for me in the crate… but nothing appropriate for the season. They were more for spring or summer. There was also nothing in your size. I have no idea why Isolde thought some of her husband’s hand-offs would fit you! You are easily almost twenty and five centimeters taller than Eamon. The casual clothes don’t matter nearly as much as far as size goes, but for the something ‘nice’ that you wanted me to find? Nothing.”

“I see. I suppose I could wear my Warden… no that won’t work. Not here. That would draw the wrong- ”

“Sorry,” I apologized. “I don’t mean to cut you off again, but the problem was solved. Leliana took me shopping. We have stuff to wear now.”

“Ah! So **that** is what ended up taking you so long! Shopping!” he replied with a grin. “So, do I get to take a sneak peek?”

“I wasn’t trying to hide them from you. You should go try them on though. I’m pretty sure I got the right size for you.”

“I have every confidence in you, love.” He leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Come, let’s go and take a look-see at what you got, then we can head downstairs for something to eat.”

“All right.” I stood up and followed him into the bedroom and then sat down on the settee at the foot of the bed while Alistair opened the bureau.

The first thing he found was the warm winter coat I had bought for him. It was a long coat in a medium brown suede with a fur trim on the neck and brass embellishments. I had also bought him leather gloves and boots in a darker shade of brown to go with the coat.

“T-this is… so amazing. It’s wonderful,” he said as he stroked the leather. “It will definitely come in handy in the days to come. I hear we may have snow for Satinalia.” He lay the coat on the bed. Back in the bureau, he found the shirt, vest, and pants to compliment the coat. “You have impressive taste in clothing, love. These are incredible. I will save these for the Satinalia get together with our friends. Let’s see… what else is there… Ah!” He found another outfit I had purchased. A crisp linen top in shades of cream, olive, and brown, also with brass adornments. Medium brown leather gloves, pants, and boots completed that outfit.

“I feel those colors suit you,” I said quietly.

“They are… amazing. I love them… and I love you. Thank you so very much.” He knelt down and placed a gentle kiss on my lips. “Come now, let us get something to eat.” He stood back up, pulled out a simple tan linen shirt from the drawers and pulled it over his head. Once it was on, he held out a hand for me to help me up.

“You aren’t going to see what I bought for myself?” I asked as I stood up.

“No,” he replied with a gentle smile. “I would like to be surprised. Though I know you will look lovely, no matter what you wear.”

I blushed. _How much longer would I be able to resist him with com_ _pliments_ _like those?_

 

We had a hearty meal in the tavern downstairs – Alistair had chosen roasted lamb with vegetables and I had gone for a simple stew with bread. As with the night before, he had surprised me again by choosing an appropriate wine to go with each of our meals. My head was buzzing slightly from drinking too much. Part of me wondered if he was still trying to ply me with too much wine in the hopes I would surrender to temptation. Yet tonight Alistair had drunk two bottles to my one.

He wasn’t drunk, but his reactions were definitely more muddled than my own. He dropped the key to our room twice, before successfully unlocking the door.

“Sorry about that, love,” he sighed and flopped onto the couch in the sitting room. He then pulled off his linen shirt and dropped it onto the floor. “Probably shouldn’t have had so much wine… but I was hoping it might help me to sleep tonight.”

“You’re having trouble sleeping?” I sat down on the sofa next to him. “Why? Darkspawn nightmares?”

“No.” He gave me a sad smile. “Those I am used to now.”

“Then why?”

He sat forward and stared deep into my eyes. “Do you even need to ask?” He sighed. “It is because **you** aren’t there.”

I swallowed a lump in my throat. “It was you that pushed me away, Alistair. Now I just want to try and protect myself from further hurt.”

“We had a fight. A stupid one, I’ll admit that now! I have also told you, that I don’t care about what happens at the Landsmeet… I am a Grey Warden before King and I will be dealing with the Blight first. Perhaps it may even be my fate that my first and last duty as King of Ferelden will be to save the country from annihilation!”

“Please don’t talk like that, Alistair! You can’t die. You are too important and- ”

“I am just a man. I am no more or less important than anyone else here in this country. King? Grey Warden? Those are just titles that happen to be associated with me. **You** are what is important to me now. I want to focus on us. Just us. Let the future sort itself out when that time comes.”

“I know you said we should get back together because of our duty as Wardens first… but I am so afraid of throwing myself back into this fully… ”

I paused for a moment as my eyes were suddenly drawn to his crystal necklace. As Shayle had noticed with mine, his too, was now slowly regaining its color. _What did this mean?_

As if he had read my mind, he softly replied, “I think it means we are doing the right thing.” His eyes flickered gold with emotion and he took my hand into his. “I truly believe this… and I want you to believe it as well.” He then placed my hand over his heart and whispered, “Feel it, Kylara. It beats only for you.”

I closed my eyes and sighed. He was really wearing away my resolve. My heart’s inner voice was winning out… I wanted him back.

_And yet..._

Though there was still a part of me that didn’t want to give in so easily to him, I couldn’t stop touching him, even after he dropped his hand away from mine. My fingers gently traced patterns from each scar I could see on his chest. His breath hissed slightly with each touch.

 _This one is from a_ _Hurlock dagger, these three are from arrows fired by that Genlock forgemaster back at Ostagar, and this long scar was given by a Shriek in the Deep Roads…_

“Maker’s Breath, love!” Alistair groaned. “Your touch feels so good, it’s driving me crazy!” He grabbed my hand again, but this time, he placed it on the erection straining against his pants. “I want you so much… _please,_ _Kylara_ …”

Startled, I jerked my hand away as though I’d touched a branding iron. “I-I… I can’t… I just can’t.” My voice was weak; my excuse, pathetic.

Alistair groaned again, but this time in frustration. “Why, Kylara? What more can I do to prove my devotion… my **love** to you?”

“I just… I don’t know!” I turned away from him. “I am so confused right now, Alistair!”

“Are you saying… you do have feelings for me again?”

“Yes…” I whispered faintly. “But…”

“But what?”

“Alistair, this is why I am so conflicted right now. Say we do get together again and that we survive this Blight. You will just have to break my heart all over again when you become King. Teagan thinks that I can stay as a mistress to you, but I know you don’t want that, and frankly, neither do I…”

“Fuck this political bullshit!” His voice raised in anger. “You’d think a King could choose whomever **he** wants to be with! I love you, Kylara! I don’t want anyone else!”

“Even if you could choose to be with me – and don’t even think about it! You know you can’t. The nobles would riot and the country would get thrown into chaos! Besides, I can’t give you an heir! You told me yourself that the Joining ruined my chances of being a mother…”

“Kylara, The taint has done the same to me. I can’t father a child either. Even if they force me to take some noblewoman to my bed as my Queen, the Theirin bloodline is going to die with me.”

“Alistair… I am sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? You have nothing to be sorry for. Neither do I. Circumstances have put us both into positions that can’t do much about right now. That is why I want us to seize what happiness we can have together for the time being!” I started to protest, but he put his finger on my lips. “Please, Kylara. I just want you to think about it, that’s all. Let us have our special day tomorrow and then it is Satinalia Eve. If you think you can, give me your answer then. I will respect whatever you decide. Is that fair?”

I nodded and he gave me a small smile.

“Thank you. Now,” he said as he picked his shirt up off of the floor, “I’ll get you a pillow and blanket, and we can both try and get a little sleep, yes?” He disappeared into the bedroom and a moment later came out with the items. He had also brought me my long nightshirt. “Do you need anything else, love?”

“No, I’ll be fine. Thank you, Alistair. Try and sleep well.”

“I’ll try. Goodnight, Kylara.”

“Night, Alistair.”

 

Much later during the night, after she had long since fallen asleep, Alistair stood in the door frame between the bedroom and sitting room watching Kylara.

 _Please, Maker, I know I am not as faithful to you as some… but all I ask is that you can somehow – in your Divine Wisdom – find a way to let my true heart’s love stay with me. Not just until the end of this Blight, but forever. If you can somehow give me a sign… any sign that we are meant to be together…_ his prayer trailed off in his mind.

He then turned and headed back into the bedroom. A minute later, he came back out with his pillow and the other blanket from the bed. He slid the low table in front of the sofa where Kylara slept off to the side, then set up the blanket and pillow on the floor. Once settled down in his new makeshift bed, it only took him a moment before he was soon sound asleep.

 

“Good morning, love,” I heard a cheerful voice greet.

I moaned, covered my face with the pillow, and mumbled out “Too erli to ged uph…”

“Ah, but I come bearing food and kafija… Perhaps that will help?” I immediately threw the pillow off my head and grabbed the mug that Alistair offered. He laughed. “Thought that might wake you up.” He sat down next to me on the sofa and took a sip from his own mug.

“This stuff is liquid love for me,” I sighed as I drank deeply, noting that he’d made it exactly the way I preferred it. “Can’t stand that we only get it when we are in civilization…” I then took a pastry off of the tray he’d set on the table and bit into it. I sighed in pleasure as a tart berry jam and thick sweet cream hit my tongue.

“You are so adorable this morning,” Alistair said with a grin.

“Really?” I stifled a laugh. “I don’t usually get called **that** in the morning! Usually, it’s just the opposite!”

“Well then, I should say it to you every day, from now on, no matter how grumpy you are.”

“Trying to get on my good side, are you?” I asked half-jokingly.

Eyes flickering gold, he huskily murmured, “Always.”

 

Until Satinalia, there wasn’t much for us to do. Everyone was so busy preparing for the holiday, that the city was relatively quiet.

Alistair continued wooing me, showering me with affection and little gifts as we walked the Market Square. Though I tried to not show it, he still knew he was winning me over. With each success, his confidence was boosted.

We didn’t see much of our friends, though we stopped by the rooming house a couple of times to see who was about. The owner of the property only was able to tell us that he saw them come and go, but as to where they were going each day, he didn’t know.

“Leliana mentioned she had found a job that she was happy with… I was hoping we’d be able to find out what it was.”

“I’m sure an opportunity will present itself, love,” Alistair said and gave my hand a squeeze. “Is there anything else you’d like to do today, or shall we head back?”

“I guess head back for now. Perhaps if the weather holds tomorrow morning, we can take our horses out for a ride… before the Satinalia Eve service at the Chantry?”

“That sounds like fun. I’m sure the horses will also appreciate the exercise too.”

Hand in hand we walked back towards The Gnawed Noble but taking a different road. Then I noticed that we were also in the general vicinity of Goldanna’s house.

“Alistair? Why are we heading this way?”

“Ever since what you told me yesterday, about standing up for what I believe in, I’ve been thinking I should have one final talk with my… sister. I can’t let her get away with what she did to me.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about her, Alistair. I took care of Goldanna.”

Confused, he asked, “What? You… didn’t hurt her, did you? Even if she may have deserved it…”

“No. I didn’t hurt her… at least, not in that sense.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You’ll see. Look,” I said as we were now several meters from her home. “There she is now.”

Goldanna was hanging up a bundle of laundry on a nearby rack. The other washer-women nearby were avoiding her. She turned after the last piece was hung up and faced in our general direction. As we were in the shadows of a nearby building, she couldn't see us, but Alistair now had a pretty good view of her.

He gasped to see his sister’s face was now covered in warts and boils. “Maker’s Breath! What happened to her?”

“Just a little hex I gave her to make her as ugly on the outside as she is on the inside. It will fade in a few weeks… ” I heard him gasp and for a moment, I thought he’d be angry at me. To my surprise, a smirk emerged on his face.

“She deserves it. She could have been kinder to me yesterday, more understanding. But she was nothing but a money-grubbing bitch.” He then gave a quick sigh. “I only worry about my nieces and nephews. I hope they are going to be okay.”

“If you like, we can set up a fund through the Chantry and make sure they are taken care of anonymously. I don’t want her children to suffer needlessly – because all children are precious – but I also don’t want that harridan getting one single sovereign from you.”

“I agree… and thank you. That sounds like a good idea. We can do that once the Blight is over with.”

With that statement, my doubts and fears about us came back. While my heart kept pleading and reassuring me that it would work out, my mind was still stubbornly screaming that I was going to get hurt in the end.

 

The next morning, Alistair, once again, provided me with a tray of kafija and other breakfast goodies. We sat there together, laughing and enjoying each other’s company while we ate.

After finishing my second mug of kafija, he stood and walked over to the window.

“What’s on your mind?” I asked.

“From what I understand, the weather should be fine for this afternoon… Did you still want to take the horses out for a ride?”

“Sure, that sounds like it will be fun. Perhaps Winston can come too, and we can take a small picnic lunch with us?”

“That sounds amazing. Why don’t you ready our packs for that, while I check with Peitr or Victoria about some food to take with us?”

“All right. I’ll meet you downstairs in a little while.”

 

Within the hour we were heading on our horses out of the city gates. During my shopping trip, I had also picked up some lighter coats for when the weather was cool, but not freezing. It was a sunny day, but still a bit chilly outside, so I was glad to have the coat over my robes. Winston was running ahead of us, excited to be free from the kennels and happy to be with us both.

Once free from the city gates, Alistair sped his horse up to a trot. I followed and the two of us rode in silence down the road. Soon we came to a pretty field that was clear and dry from any muddy slush or snow.

Victoria had lent us a blanket, so while Alistair spread it out on the brown, dry grass, I took the lunch items Peitr had provided for us. The next few hours we spent nibbling on the food, drinking some wine, playing with Winston, chatting about various things, and looking for pictures in the clouds as we lay side by side on the blanket. It was a very pleasant afternoon.

A chilly wind suddenly blew up from the south. Alistair and I sat up on the blanket. Clouds were building up on the southern horizon.

“Looks like we will get some snow later today,” Alistair commented. “Let’s head back to Denerim. We should get ready for Satinalia Eve. Not to mention, I am a bit hungrier for a heartier meal.”

I agreed and we quickly packed everything and mounted up for the ride back to the city.

 

The snow clouds blew in quicker than we had anticipated. We had just stabled the horses back in Denerim and were heading to drop Winston back off at the kennel when the snow started to come down.

By the time we got back to the Gnawed Noble, both of us were wet and chilly. Alistair quickly asked if Victoria would be able to draw a bath for us. She told us she would get up to our room as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, there was already a fire going in our fireplaces, both in the sitting room and the bedroom. I sat on the sofa as close to the fire as I could.

A knock at the door, which Alistair quickly answered had Victoria coming in with hot water for the tub. As she prepared the bath, Alistair sat next to me.

“You will be taking a bath with me? We need to get you warmed up.”

I shivered as melting snow ran from my wet hair and down my back. “N-no… I can’t. Alistair, please don’t ask.”

“Why Kylara? You are freezing! I am also just trying to be practical, you know.”

“I… I understand,” I said as my teeth chattered a bit. “B-but I am still a bit scared of what may come… if we did share.”

“Please, Kylara. Be sensible. We are both cold and need to get warmed up. I promise I won’t do anything…”

I shook my head. “I-I’ll be okay here by the fire… if you just hurry, the water won’t cool too much, right?”

He sighed, then turned to Victoria, who had been getting ready to leave. “Would you be willing to bring up just a little more hot water in a few minutes?”

“Of course, ser. I can do that.”

Alistair tipped her a few sovereigns. After she left and he shut the door, he frowned a bit. “Maker you can be so stubborn sometimes!”

“I’m sorry, Alistair…”

He knelt down in front of me and took my hand. “Kylara, I do love you, no matter how prideful, stubborn, or silly you are… I don’t know what else I can do to convince you of this! If fear is still what is holding you back from **us** , then perhaps I should just tell Eamon when we get back to Redcliffe that I am giving up the throne. We can use the Landsmeet to expose Loghain’s crimes… and then I will tell the nobles that I am letting Anora stay in charge.”

My eyes widened in shock. “No… please, Alistair! You can’t give up your future for me! I am just a mage! A commoner! I am not important in the grand scheme of things!”

“And I have told you I have **no** future… unless **you** are in it! How much more clear can I be about that?”

“Alistair…”

“I mean it, Kylara. I will give up King and Country once the Blight is over… if that is what it takes to keep you by my side.”

 _I can’t let him do this! He is the King that this country needs!_ I closed my eyes and whispered, “Go on and take your bath, Alistair. I promise I will think about what you have said… and give you an answer… soon.”

“Very well. I’ll be quick. Victoria should be back up soon with more water.” He then disappeared into the bedroom.

 

In what seemed to hardly be any time whatsoever, Alistair came back out of the bedroom, cleanly shaved, smelling faintly of his vanilla soap, and fully dressed in his new winter outfit that I had bought. He was jaw-dropping gorgeous.

“How does it look?” he asked. “The fit is good and it is very comfortable.”

“You…” I licked my upper lip quickly. “You look… incredible.”

“I have you to thank for that, you know,” he said with a grin.

Before I could say anything else, there was a knock at the door. Alistair opened it, letting Victoria back in with more hot water. She quickly went about her work, but I noticed she kept looking at Alistair surreptitiously. A flash of jealousy ran through me and I suddenly felt a flash of heat from the crystal around my neck. As Alistair let Victoria out of our room, I quickly looked down at it. It had about half of its original color back now. _I wonder if his is the same as mine?_

“All right, love. Go bathe and get ready. I told Victoria to prepare a table for us down in the tavern, so we may eat soon.”

I nodded and headed into the bedroom. I stripped off my mage robe and coat, which were still slightly damp and hung them on a rack to dry. Then I removed the dress I was going to wear from the bureau and lay it on the bed. I then went behind the screen and into the bathing area.

To my surprise, Victoria had sprinkled rose petals on the water and when I inhaled, I could smell the rose oil that Alistair had bought me the other day. He must have told her to do this for me.

 _That crazy… wonderful man!_ I sighed as I stepped into the hot scented water. _If I honestly had any real willpower to resist him anymore… it just flew out the window and into the void!_

 

After strapping on the corset that the sales clerk had convinced me to buy along with my dress, slipping on my new black leather boots, and getting my gown laced up, I was finally ready. I knocked on the frame of the door that separated the bedroom from the sitting room.

“About time, love,” Alistair said as he set down the book he’d been reading to pass the time. Then he actually looked up and saw me. “Holy Andraste… You are…beautiful!”

He quickly stood up and embraced me, placing a tender kiss on my temple. “That dress is absolutely stunning on you.”

“Thank you. I am glad you like it.” I took a step back from him, held the skirt part out a bit, and twirled around. “I am glad it fits so well.”

“Red is a phenomenal color on you. It brings out this inner… glow from you.”

I clipped on a fur stole that I had bought to help keep me warm when we headed outside later. Then I held out my hand to Alistair. “Shall we get going?”

He took my hand and nodded. “Yes.”

 

After a rich, luxurious meal at the tavern, we headed out to go to the Chantry service. I wasn’t a particularly religious person… and I knew Alistair wasn’t either, but there was always something special about Satinalia Eve.

It was snowing lightly and Alistair had his arm around me as we walked to the main Chantry of Denerim city.

By the time we got there, we heard singing from within.

“Hope they don’t mind we are a bit late,” I said as he opened the door for me.

The singing had stopped. We took a candle from the box near the door and then quietly made our way to the last pew, where there was still a little bit of room, and sat down.

The Revered Mother approached the lectern and began speaking. “In the absence of light, shadows thrive. Tonight I will be paraphrasing Threnodies 8:27.” She paused for a moment, then spoke again. “The moment the magisters entered the city of the Maker, their sin poisoned it. What had once been golden and bright turned black, and violently they were flung from the world of dreams back into the waking world. Twisted and corrupted by their crime and their magic, they turned into monsters and fled underground, unable to bear the light of day. They were the first darkspawn. **33**

“There in the depths of the earth they dwelled. They spread their taint as a plague and grew in number – until they were a multitude. Together they continued to search ever deeper, until they found their prize. Their god, their betrayer, the sleeping dragon Dumat. Their taint twisted even the false-god. The Whisperer awoke at last, in pain and horror, and he led them to wreak havoc upon all the nations of the world: Thus began the first Blight.

“And now here we are. Over 1300 years later and another Blight threatens our land. The Fifth Blight. Our Good King Cailan’s sacrifice at Ostagar will never be forgotten, nor will the losses of Warden-Commander Duncan and the few Grey Wardens that Ferelden had. The Maker smiles sadly on his Grey Wardens, as no sacrifice is greater than theirs…”

My eyes filled with tears upon hearing this from the Revered Mother. Alistair took my hand and held it tight.

“They hold a lonely vigil, enduring lives of hardship and sacrifice to protect the world from an evil that can never truly be conquered. If all the Wardens are truly gone from our nation, we can only pray that other the other nations of Thedas will hear our cry… and someone will come to our aid.”

“I almost wish we could tell them that we are still here, still fighting… even if it is just the two of us,” Alistair whispered. I nodded sadly. The Mother continued her sermon.

“I will now quote from Transfigurations 1:3-5.” She opened the book and read.

 

“All men are the Work of our Maker's Hands,  
From the lowest slaves  
To the highest kings.  
Those who bring harm  
Without provocation to the least of His children  
Are hated and accursed by the Maker.  
  
Those who bear false witness  
And work to deceive others, know this:  
There is but one Truth.  
All things are known to our Maker  
And He shall judge their lies.

All things in this world are finite.  
What one man gains, another has lost.  
Those who steal from their brothers and sisters  
Do harm to their livelihood and to their peace of mind.  
Our Maker sees this with a heavy heart.”

 

She closed the book and then looked out on the congregation with a stern eye. “To create war between brothers is a sin… for it is not in raging war where the Maker is found but in the peace made between foes. No matter if you are teryn, arl, bann, or commoner, we **must** put aside our differences and stand together as one, if our nation is to have any hope at all during these dark times. If we do not, then the darkspawn will surely win.

“Despite these dark omens and tidings I bear this Satinalia Eve, we must never give up hope. We must always remember that the darkest hour is always before the dawn. Please open your hymn book and sing with me.” She began the first verse. **34**

 

“Shadows fall  
And hope has fled  
Steel your heart  
The dawn will come”

Slowly, the congregation stood up and joined in; candles being lit from one to another and held high. I sang in a clear alto and heard Alistair join me, his voice a rich baritone.

  
“The night is long  
And the path is dark  
Look to the sky  
For one day soon  
The dawn will come  
  
The shepherd's lost  
And his home is far  
Keep to the stars  
The dawn will come  
  
The night is long  
And the path is dark  
Look to the sky  
For one day soon  
The dawn will come  
  
Bare your blade  
And raise it high  
Stand your ground  
The dawn will come  
  
The night is long  
And the path is dark  
Look to the sky  
For one day soon  
The dawn will come”

 

All of our voices slowly died down as the hymn ended. We all lowered our candles carefully but kept them lit.

“Tonight’s Benediction is from Trials 1:14-15,” the Revered Mother said, then quoted,

 

“Though all before me is shadow,  
Yet shall the Maker be my guide.  
I shall not be left to wander the drifting roads of the Beyond.  
For there is no darkness in the Maker's Light  
And nothing that He has wrought shall be lost.  
  
I am not alone.  
Even as I stumble on the path  
With my eyes closed, yet I see  
The Light is here.”

 

She then raised her arms up and gave us the final blessing. “Maker’s Blessing on you.”

We all responded together. “May His divine spirit always light our way.”

With that, the service was over. We blew out our candles. As was custom, Loghain, as regent, and Queen Anora would be the first to file out, followed by the nobles, while the rest of the congregation waited. I asked if Alistair wanted to slip out the side door, but he shook his head.

“I want to wait. I wantLoghain to see us!” he said in a dark tone.

So we there in the back pew – waiting… wondering.

I was a nervous wreck. _Would he_ _say something? Would he acknowledge us? By the void, would he have us arrested?!_

Alistair, in the meantime, had a hard, set look to his face. As Loghain and Anora got closer, he leaned over and whispered, “He won’t make a scene here. Not after that sermon! The Mother was all but blaming him for both the Blight and the civil war!” He gave me a sly grin. “Good to know there are more people against him than we thought. Come now.” He put his arm around my shoulder to help give me a quick confidence boost. “Put on that defiant face I know you have. It’s time we show this bastard that we mean business!”

He was right, so I took a hesitant breath, nodded, and then mimicked Alistair’s own look.

As I stared at the two of them, I noticed that though she held her father’s arm, Anora looked a bit angry… and sad. She was walking down the aisle without really acknowledging or seeing anyone. Loghain, on the other hand, was trying to show that the Mother’s sermon had had no effect on him. He wasn’t smiling, but he was nodding politely to people as he passed.

Then he saw us.

Time seemed to freeze for us all.

Alistair’s eyes were glinting gold with a dangerous look that would kill if it could. Loghain actually looked surprised, shocked – and even a bit nervous – for a split second as his dark grey eyes locked with Alistair’s golden ones, He quickly recovered and then looked away from the both of us. He quickened his pace and practically pulled Anora out of the Chantry as fast as could.

When he was gone, and the rest of the nobles and populace were leaving the Chantry, Alistair gave me a huge grin.

“Did you see that?” He said with glee, “We have him scared! He knows his ass won’t be on that throne much longer!”

I couldn’t help but laugh in response, however, once the levity was over, we stared at each other in a moment of awkward silence. I could see his eyes flicking gold again, but before I could say or do anything, he leaned in and kissed me. My mouth parted, partially in shock, but there was also part of me actually seemed to welcome his kiss.

Alistair recovered first and quickly pulled back. “I-I’m sorry, Kylara. I couldn’t help it. I was just so happy at seeing Loghain’s fear, that I- ”

I put my finger to his lips. “It’s… okay, Alistair. I am not mad…” I glanced around the sanctuary. There were still quite a few people milling about. Some did look a bit scornful at what they probably felt was disrespectful, our kissing in the Chantry. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

He nodded. We both stood and made our way to the exit. Once outside, I noticed the snow from earlier had stopped.

“What do you want to do now?” Alistair asked.

“Leliana mentioned a pub near the rooming house that they are staying in. I think she and the rest of our group will be there.”

“All right. Let’s head there.”

 

We entered a small, but busy and boisterous pub called The Merry Mabari. There were people dancing, singing, drinking. Everyone looked to be having a fabulous Satinalia Eve.

I heard Leliana’s high soprano leading a group of off-chorus singers in the back of the pub. She saw us as well and waved for us to come an join her.

“Kylara! Alistair! Wow, both of you look amazing!” She leaned in close to me. “I was right about the dress, wasn’t I?”

I smiled and nodded.

Wynne then came up and hugged both of us. “Don’t you look lovely this evening, Kylara… and Alistair, my gracious, you are quite the strapping young man tonight!” She giggled. _Wynne? Giggle?_ “Why if I was a few years younger…” I then noticed the nearly empty wine glass in her hand and grinned.

Alistair’s cheeks turned pink. “Ah, thank you, Wynne.”

Oghren then brushed past some people and handed Alistair and me two large mugs filled with… something. We glanced at the mugs and then at each other.

Oghren laughed. “Don’tcha worry! It ain’t my brew, but this is pretty good stuff! Don’t be sticks in the mud! Drink!!”

We shrugged and then drank. Whatever the drink was, it was sweet but had a very strong alcoholic punch to it. Oghren quickly handed us another.

While Zevran was chatting with Alistair, I glanced around the crowded pub. Morrigan was nowhere to be found, but given her usual solitary nature, that was not too surprising. I did see Sten sitting at the end of the bar with a large platter of cookies. He was eating one after another. Smiling, I walked over to him.

“Enjoying yourself, Sten?” I asked as I approached.

“I suppose so,” he replied in his usual tone, but with his mouth full. He swallowed and then said, “There is… interesting food here. Like these things for example. There is no word for these in the Qunari tongue, but I really love these crumbly, sweet things…”

“Cookies?” I supplied.

“Yes!” He smiled, always a rare thing to see from him. “We have no such thing in our land. This should be remedied!”

“I’m sure we can get a recipe for you to take home someday.”

“Yes…” His smile faded. “Home.”

“Sten? Do you get homesick? You’ve been away from your lands for so long now…”

“Sometimes,” he said quietly. “It is strange to be in a crowd and hear a language that is not your own. To see faces that are not like your own. I miss the smells of Seheron. Tea, incense, and the sea. I agree with that Marjolaine woman. Ferelden does smell of wet dog.”

“Don’t forget the rotting garbage,” I said with a laugh.

Sten gave me a wry smile, “True, I was trying to forget that part.” He grunted and then got up from his seat. “I am heading back to my room. Hopefully, the snows will clear soon and we can get back underway with our mission. Have a good night, kadan.” He grabbed a huge handful of the cookies off the platter and then left the pub.

Alistair walked up to me and handed me another mug of the sweet alcoholic beverage. “Everything okay here?”

“Sure. I was just talking to Sten, but he decided to leave. Guess he’s not really the party-type.”

“Well, come with me. Leliana is going to sing and then I would love it if you would do me the honor of a dance. Please?”

“Sure, sounds like a lot of fun.”

 

Another drink was passed to me as Alistair and I left the dance floor. I had been whirled and twirled across the dance floor by Alistair, Zevran, and a few other nice patrons. Even Leliana had taken me for a spin across the pub. I was laughing so hard, my cheeks were hurting slightly, but it was a good hurt. We were all having a very festive night.

Alistair pulled me to a small candlelit table in the corner of the pub.

“Having fun, love?”

I nodded and took another sip of the sweet drink. “Yes, Satinalia has always been a lot of fun. We had parties in the Tower, but nothing this crazy.”

“I’ve never been to a party like this,” Alistair murmured quietly.

“Eamon and Isolde didn’t throw any holiday bashes?”

“No.” He shook his head. “She was deeply religious, Isolde. To her, this was a night of pious contemplation. Same can be said of Bournshire too…” He took a sip of his own drink. “Then I was in the Wardens. We had get-togethers some nights, but nothing like this.”

My heart ached for that poor, lonely little boy that he had been, not being allowed to have any fun. “Alistair… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s in the past. What matters is the here and the now. Especially the **now**. You are everything to me, Kylara.”

Something in my eyes must have changed in some way, because Alistair suddenly got up, took my hand and led me outside of the pub.

“Alist- ”

His lips quickly drowned out the rest of his name. His kiss felt hot enough to melt the snow we were standing on. After a moment, we broke apart and stared into each other’s eyes.

For a few seconds, he looked apologetic. “Kylara… I- ”

This time it was **my** kiss that drowned out what he’d been about to say. I threw my arms around his neck and he quickly moaned and held me tightly around my waist.

Lips, tongues, teeth, gasps, groans, stifled cries… We came together as though we had no choice.

Alistair pulled back, panting. His breath fogging in the cold, night air. _“Kylara,”_ he moaned. “Are you _sure?_ ”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“This isn’t the drink?”

“No, Alistair, it isn’t…”

“Then…”

“Yes. My answer is yes.”

 

We rushed through the small tavern at the Gnawed Noble, where a more subdued party was being held. It was hard, trying to not show the urgency on our faces as we brushed past people as quickly and politely as we could. Some patrons chuckled lightly when they saw us rushing upstairs. I turned blew a kiss and gave a sly wink, which Peitr caught. He grinned and I heard him mutter, “About time…”

At the end of the upstairs hall, Alistair unlocked the door as fast as he could manage since his hands were shaking. Once inside the room, he slammed the door shut, pressed me up tightly against the wall, and brought his lips to mine again for another heated kiss. He tentatively pushed his hips against mine. When he heard me groan, he rubbed himself against me even harder.

“This is really happening,” he whispered when my lips left his to gently nibble at the pulse point on his neck.

“Yes, Alistair,” I replied with a heated moan. “I don’t want to fight or deny it anymore. I **need** you. Now.” He slid out of his winter coat, letting it drop to the floor, as I began working at the fastenings on his pants.

Once I had them loose enough, I worked them down his hips and thighs, then lightly scratched my nails over his braies and his still confined erection.

“Maker’s Breath! I-I want this!” he all but hissed as I then moved his braies gently down, allowing him to spring free. “But I want to make you feel good too!”

I led him to the sofa and made him sit on the edge. I went to my knees, tucking my dress carefully around my legs. “ **This** makes me feel good, Ali, my love. Watching your reaction when I take you with my mouth. Hearing you moan and cry out my name. _Tasting_ you. Believe me, **I** want this as much as you.” With that, I pushed the sleeves of my dress up and slid my right hand up and down his shaft with soft, yet firm strokes. I kissed and nipped the skin of his inner thighs, while my left hand cupped his sac and stroked it lightly.

“Oh… _f_ _uck!_ ” he cried out, when a moment later I gently sucked one of his balls into my mouth. I rolled it around my tongue with care. “Kylara…” he moaned, followed by random, unintelligible, but pleasurable babble. His hand reached out and stroked my hair.

I repeated the same action on the other side, giving it the same loving attention, then with soft nips and kisses, moved my way up his shaft. I daubed my tongue all around the crown, lapping up his arousal.

There was a sheen of sweat on his forehead already and his breath was coming is gasps. His eyes were closed and it looked like he was muttering a prayer. “Alistair…” I murmured. “Open your eyes. I want to see your pleasure as I take you this way.”

His eyes opened, glowing gold with an intensity I hadn’t seen in a long time. Staring deep into his eyes, I then slid him into my mouth, moving my hand in tandem. Sucking hard on the return, I was rewarded with more babbled nonsense and more arousal from him. I swallowed, then moved down and back up again.

Releasing him from my mouth for a moment, I whispered in a husky tone, “Ali, love, I want you to tell me how I make you feel. Tell me anything you want… but I want to hear you.”

He nodded very slightly and moaned loudly as I took him as deep as I could, but instead of moving faster, I continued to go slow, stretching out both his pleasure and my own.

I heard him take a breath, then, “Kylara… You are per- Ah! Perfection!”

I began moving just a bit faster; his ragged moans making me want him even more. I teased the sensitive ridge below the head of his cock with light flicks of my tongue before once again swallowing him deep.

He gasped and cried out my name again. “Maker, I love you so much! You make me feel… so… fucking… good!”

I groaned wantonly around his cock and sucked harder, the vibrations from my throat apparently reducing his voice to a babbling mess yet again. I could see his hands now gripping the edge on the sofa tightly. My left hand, which was still caressing his sac, could feel it tightening. I scraped my nails against the extremely sensitive skin of his inner thighs, causing his cock to jerk in reaction.

Knowing that it was me making him feel this way made me feel a bit smug. I hummed as I began to move wilder and faster against him.

“Close… so fucking close now! Maker, I am going to come!” he cried out.

I released him and purred out, “Yes, my love! Come in my mouth! I want to taste every last bit of you…” I quickly clamped my lips back around the crown of his cock and sucked.

I could feel him swell slightly against my right hand and I pumped him hard and fast.

“For you, Kylara love! Always for you!” he bellowed as he filled my mouth and throat with his release.

Though I swallowed rapidly, it soon became too much and I had to come up for air. I continued to stroke him as I watched with awe how powerful his climax had been.

Panting for breath, he slowly raised his head up from the back of the sofa. “Ooh… that was… oh, Sweet Andraste!” He glanced down at the mess on my hand and his thighs. “Maker, I’m sorry, Kylara love. It’s just… been awhile since I last had any release…”

“Why apologize? It’s not so bad…” I grinned up at him. “I just need to clean you up, that’s all.”

“But the washing area is on the other side of the bedroom.”

“So?”

“Don’t you need a cloth? Water?”

“Not this time.” I dipped my head back down and lapped up the mess with my tongue, which quickly made my Alibear groan out my name again and again with sighs of pleasure.

 

Once I’d finished, I stood up and faced my love, who was looking at me with complete and utter adoration. He stroked the soft silk of my deep red gown. “I love this color on you. It reminds me of the rose I gave you. It makes your eyes sparkle between silver and violet… and it makes my mouth absolutely water for you. You are so stunning; so gorgeous.”

He rubbed the laces of the dress and sighed. “As much as I love you in it, right now I want you out of it. What do you say?”

“Well, I can’t be the only one naked, so tell you what. Let me finish getting you undressed, and then you can loosen my dress.”

He quirked his eyebrow up at that. “Just loosen?”

“I have something special for you, dear. But I need to take care of it in private because it is a surprise. So after you help with the laces, I’ll remove the dress myself behind the screen… then I’ll be back.”

He grinned, his smile melting my heart all over for him again. “All right, I suppose you’ve intrigued me enough to play along.”

I knelt down again, but this time it was to unlace his boots. I slipped them off. Then as he took off his dress shirt and undershirt, I worked his leather breeches and braies the rest of the way off of his legs. I quickly folded all of his clothing and placed them on the small table in the sitting room. Naked, he got up from the sofa and walked into the bedroom. I picked up his thick winter coat from the floor where he’d dropped it in his haste, hung it on the coat rack in the room, and then followed him into the bedroom. When I came in, he was sitting on the edge of the bed smiling and eagerly waiting for me.

I turned around and he carefully untied and pulled the laces on the back of the dress to loosen it enough for me to be able to slip out of. Holding it up, I then murmured, “Get comfortable, love. I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t take too long, or I might just have to come after you,” he replied with a wink as he lay back on the coverlet of the bed. He tucked his hands behind his head.

I walked around the bed to the other side and bent over quickly, picking up the thin, flat box from under my side of the bed, and then quickly disappeared behind the screen that separated the bathing and facilities chamber from the rest of the room.

I slipped out of my dress and draped it over the screen, then untied the front laces of the corset I had used to bind my breasts and stomach. Once out of that contraption, I then opened the box from The Wonders of Thedas.

What had seemed at the time to be a really strange purchase, I was now glad I had bought (and subsequently kept) the outfit. Perhaps deep down, I had known all along this was going to happen. With a sly grin, I took off my smalls and slid on the barely there lingerie. I marveled at how light and airy the fabric was. Here I was, a mage who could bend and twist the elements at her fingertips, and even _I_ couldn’t figure out how something so sheer had been made. It felt very odd indeed having something so _see-th_ _r_ _ough_ on me, but I knew once Alistair saw me… it would all be worth it.

To finish the outfit, I quickly pinned up my hair in some glittering ruby gemmed clips that I had also bought.

“Dear? Are you stalling on purpose?” I heard him call from the bed.

“No. I’ll be right out.”

I was very glad that the staff of the inn had already had a fire going in our room before we had returned, because what I was wearing provided absolutely no warmth. My nipples felt like hard pebbles right now and I had goose-flesh on my arms. But I knew my love would also quickly alleviate those problems as well.

Just before I stepped around the screen, I mumbled a quick spell to light all the candles in the candelabras on each side of the bed.

I heard Alistair chuckle. “Why do I get the feeling that I…” he trailed off as I stepped out from behind the screen. He sat up abruptly from where he’d been relaxing on the bed. His eyes bugged out in shock and his mouth fell open. He quickly closed it, licked his lips, and swallowed. He blinked his eyes quite rapidly as if he still couldn’t believe it was me standing there. Words apparently did not want to come for him.

I watched his cock go from relaxed to iron hard again in the mere moments since I’d come out. I grinned and said lightly, “Seems one part of you likes what it sees…”

Another minute of gaping and finally, with a huge audible gulp, Alistair found his voice. “Sweet Holy Mother of Andraste… where did you get _**that**_ outfit?” He crawled across the mattress of the bed to come closer to where I was standing.

“I take it you like, yes?” I turned around slowly and heard him swear under his breath when he saw that the bottom half of the lingerie had a string that went in between my ass cheeks.

Once I was facing him again, he softly replied, “This may be blaspheme in the eyes of the Chantry, but you are a goddess… a true vision to behold. And tonight,” he reached out to pull me onto the bed with him, “you are **mine** to worship.”

 

He got me to lay in the middle of the bed while he knelt at the foot of it, in between my legs.

Gazing down at me, his golden eyes spoke volumes to me. “My love, I must have done something right in my life somewhere to have an incredible woman like you here with me now.” He heaved a sigh. “I almost completely ruined it too… Maker’s Breath, what a fool I was!”

“Let’s not dwell on that any longer, Ali. We both made mistakes, but I have moved on from it… and I am here with you now.”

He smiled, tears in his eyes. “Yes, you are.” He leaned over me and gently brushed his lips across mine, before coming in for a far deeper kiss.

My arms came up to encircle him, yet as I attempted to pull him closer to me, he resisted.

He pulled away from our kiss and murmured, “I said I plan to worship you tonight, and I shall. You are absolutely worth it… and since you did such a wonderfully talented trick with your mouth on me earlier… I can take my time and focus on you now.”

He moved to sit back at the foot of the bed. I writhed as he drew his fingers down my legs. “Ali… I want you so very much right now. Please, don’t tease.”

“Tease you? Never. I said worship and there is a difference. For you to have bought and wear such a delicious outfit for me; I want to remember this night… for the rest of my life.”

He picked up my foot and held it close to his chest. With both thumbs, he slowly began to massage my foot.

Instantly I felt tension begin to fall away and I moaned. I hadn’t realized I had been such a bundled mess of nerves up to that point.

“Ah, methinks you are enjoying this?” As he continued the amazing massage, he placed a tiny kiss on each toe, starting with the pinkie. When he got to my big toe, he surprised me again by sucking it into his mouth. I couldn’t help it, I started to giggle.

He withdrew my wet toe from his mouth. “Ticklish there, love?”

I nodded and sighed out, “Feels amazing though…”

“Good.” He smiled and began moving the tip of his tongue down each of my toes followed by tiny nips of his teeth and tender kisses.

He had me going from giggles to sighs to moans over and over as he continued his massage up my calf and then working his way back to my foot. Then he lowered it down to rest in between his thighs as he moved to my other foot.

When he saw my questioning look, he gave a grin as he continued to massage me. “Can’t have it getting cold now. Not after all that loving attention.”

“Are you sure that is the only reason?” I gave a teasing smile all my own. “I mean, I am in a good position to now do this…” and with that I wriggled my toes around, causing them to gently brush up against underside of his rigid member.

He hissed in a breath and then gazed down at me, a rapturous look on his handsome face. “Oh, you are a naughty little minx. But you really mustn’t distract me from my duty to adore every last bit of you. I promise I will make it worthwhile.”

I pretended to pout, but only for a moment. He had finally finished with my feet and had placed them on the sides as he began to move up my body. His hot breath whispered against my skin and tender kisses rained down on my calves, my knees, my thighs. I began to quiver in anticipation.

He slid his large hands under me, gripping, kneading, squeezing my ass… teasing the string that ran in between. “I had no idea they made outfits such as these,” he murmured, his lips practically touching the thin silk covering my sex. The vibrations of his deep voice made me squirm and moan. “I may have to insist that you buy some more of these once we make the world safe again.”

“Y-yes…” I could barely get the word out.

He ran his nose along the wet silk followed by a teasing kiss. “Kylara,” he rumbled, “your scent is so intoxicating… and you are so very wet…” He nipped me gently with his teeth. “…for me.”

“AH! A-Alistair!” I cried out when he nipped me again.

“Yes, my love? Do you want more?”

“Pl-please,” I whimpered. “Alistair… please.”

“You want my mouth on you? Do you want me to make you come with my tongue?”

“Maker, yes! Please!” I begged.

He gently lifted me and tugged the sheer silk away from my sex, slid the panties down my legs, and then pulled them off completely. “As my goddess wishes, so shall it be…”

He gripped my hips, fingers caressing my backside, and lowered his face back down. He exhaled a warm breath against my wet folds, and then dragged his tongue slowly up. He repeated this action twice more and then used the very tip of his tongue to circle around my clit.

“Ohhhhh, Alistair!” I cried out. “Maker, do that again!”

He did, but then purred, “I think I can do better though, don’t you agree?”

“Better than… Oh… _fuck_!” I cried out when he did just as he’d set out prove. Blessed Andraste, I had no idea what he was doing exactly, but it felt so damned good! I could quickly feel my climax approaching. “Oh, don’t stop… don’tstopdon’tstop!!” I pleaded.

Suddenly, he pulled away! I was about to rail in frustration when he then quickly dove back in and with some strange, twisting movement of his tongue, brought me screaming over the edge.

And what a fall it was! Wave after wave of pleasure continued on as he devoured my orgasm until I felt like a limp noodle.

When the stars stopped swirling over my head and I could focus again, Alistair had moved up my body and was raining small kisses on the scar that Vartag had left across my abdomen.

“Ali?”

“Yes, love?” he murmured as he continued to pepper my stomach with light kisses.

“Please…”

“Please, what?”

“Come closer… I want you. Please.”

“Are you sure?” he said teasingly, but with love. “I haven’t gotten to your luscious breasts yet…”

“I need you inside me… Now.”

“All right,” he whispered. He carefully moved up my body until he was right above me, his muscular arms supporting his weight. I moaned as his golden eyes looked deeply into my own. He placed a tiny kiss on each side of my mouth before moving in for a much deeper and more demanding kiss.

I felt his cock brushing against my sex and rolled my hips towards him, desperately trying to get him inside of me.

“Soon, love. Very soon.” He shifted his weight to one arm and used his free hand to caress my breasts under the sheer lacy fabric. “You are so lovely. I cannot believe how lucky I am… Lucky that I didn’t lose you because of my pride and stupidity…”

His hand then moved down in between our bodies and after teasing me a little by rubbing the crown of his cock against my slick entrance, he finally positioned himself, thrust his hips forward, and slid into me. I cried out and locked my legs around his.

“Maker’s Breath! The sensations I feel when I sink into your tight, wet, satiny heat…” Alistair panted in my ear as he slowly moved within me. “I can’t ever get enough! It feels as amazing as it did our first night together.”

“Flatterer,” I teased, then groaned as he quickened his pace slightly.

“I mean it,” he whispered huskily, then punctuated his next words with long, slow, hard thrusts. “I… will… always… mean… it.”

The next several minutes were spent in silence, save for the sounds of pleasure coming from both of us. Alistair kept surprising me by changing the pace at which he moved. Sometimes slow and deep, other times hard, fast, and shallow; never repeating any particular pattern. He seemed intent on giving me a very intense night of passion.

He kissed me deeply, then slowly pulled out. I glanced at him with slight confusion. He gave a small smile. “Just making a slight adjustment, my love.” He sat back on his knees, lifted my hips to rest on his thighs, and then plunged back in.

I moaned loudly at the thrill I was feeling from this delicious new angle and knew I’d likely not last much longer.

Apparently he was feeling the same; his comments making that very clear. “Maker! I can see myself going inside of you!” he exclaimed as he gripped my hips began thrusting faster. “Oh, Kylara! Your lovely breasts… I-I want… I want to see you play with them as I take you. Please!”

I did as he asked. I pulled the fabric of the lingerie to the sides and grasped my breasts. I ran my hands over them and then pinched my nipples. The rush I felt just then nearly tipped me over the precipice, but I managed to pull back just enough. I wanted to come with him. Thankfully, his moans and cries indicated he was very close.

He leaned forward slightly – his hands now pushing down on the mattress, driving himself even deeper within me. “ _Fuck, Kylara_! You feel so incredible! I-I, oh fuck! Can’t hold back any longer! Maker, I am coming! Coming inside of you!!”

I immediately pinched my nipples again as I felt the hot rush of his orgasm pumping into me. I cried out as I reached my peak with him. I was rewarded with another hard thrust and a second spasm of heat… and then a third. From around our necks, our crystals **35** grew to an almost blinding brightness for a moment, but then quickly dimmed and began to pulse in time with our rapid heartbeats.

I still didn’t know what our future held, but I took this as a very positive sign.

Spent, his arms trembling, Alistair carefully moved me forward and then gently withdrew from me. He collapsed onto the bed next to me, trying to calm his breathing. After a moment, he rolled over to cup my face in his hands.

“I love you, Kylara. I won’t let anyone keep us apart, ever again. This I swear,” he murmured before he kissed me, long and deep. His eyes fluttered, sleep already wanting to claim him.

“I love you too, my Alibear.” I kissed the tip of his nose and whispered, “Sleep now. We are together again.”

As I extinguished the candles in the room and closed the drapes around the bed, he drifted off, looking peaceful and happy.

 

Sometime during the night, when the fireplace was down to only coals, he woke me with gentle kisses and caresses. He murmured a question and I nodded.

He moved over me, taking me again; gently and tenderly, with love shining in his bright gold eyes.

As we made love, I ran my hands up and down his strong back. I could feel even more scars on him, just as I knew I had on my own body. Tears formed in my eyes. I wanted to kiss and soothe every hurt he had sustained thus far… knowing that the total would likely be added to before this Blight was done with us.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 32 Again, this doesn’t happen in the game… You don’t get any gold (other than what can possibly be looted from the bodies) from this quest, just a nice bow upgrade for Leliana. As before, I am taking quite a lot of creative licenses here with my Fic… The game doesn’t have you stay in any one location for such an extended period, but again, with fast travel and just a few quests in each location that you can complete in any order… ;-) I just wanted to try and take a slightly more realistic approach to their travels. (Also, I mention seasons and weather… which sadly don’t happen in the game either. Other than seeing the Blight stain spreading on the in-game map, you’d be completely unaware of the passage of time. O_o) 
> 
> 33 Snippets from my Satinalia "sermon" taken from https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Chant_of_Light_verses. Also, thanks to my friend, IntrovertedWife, for some extra help on the sermon. ^_^
> 
> 34 While this song did not come out until Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014), I felt that it could easily apply to what the people of Ferelden are going through with the threat and fear of the Blight. I decided to use it as the closing hymn to my Satinalia service that Alistair and Kylara attend at the Chantry; that even after her grim sermon, the Revered Mother wants to give the people hope. If you haven't heard the song before, here is a clip of the song as featured in Inquisition... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgYxMVRtJr4
> 
> 35 Again, probably should have covered this earlier for friends and family... there are no crystal necklaces in the game... I made that up for my story, to show how there is a deep bond between Alistair and Kylara.


	33. Denerim (part 3) - Lovers and Friends (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fluff and fill chapter. Alistair and Kylara reexplore their relationship, and spend some time with their friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Silly Breakfast in Bed art by the extremely wonderful Chenria!! (https://www.deviantart.com/chenria)
> 
> ** Mature Content **

A sliver of morning light came through a crack in the curtains that framed our bed. The light hit my eyes and I slowly blinked as I came awake. I had no idea what time it was, nor did I particularly care. I stretched, my naked skin undulating against the soft sheets of the bed, then turned to my right.

Lying next to me, sprawled out on his stomach, was the man I was hopelessly, madly, and completely in love with. Alistair was snoring slightly, a gentle smile on his lips. After three more rounds of incredible lovemaking during the night, his was, I felt, a well-deserved rest.

I still wasn’t sure how we’d work it out between us, but the gentle glow coming from my crystal necklace continued to reassure me that somehow, someway, it would. 

I ran my hand gently down Alistair’s back, once again noting the scars already there. Then I glanced down at my own scars. _Vartag’s dagger across my stomach, Two arrows down in my lower abdomen, one in my shoulder, and th_ _e_ _Desire Demon’s claw marks across my chest._

 _At least those last ones are fading better than the others,_ I thought. _Even with Wynne’s help, they have still taken time. But how much more pain and hurt will the two of us have to go through before this is all finished?_

I moved to the edge of the bed, parted the curtains, then slid off. I glanced out of the window, noting that the snow that had started again last night was continuing to fall. The world outside the windows was pure. White and pristine.

I shivered in the cold, quickly walked over to the banked coals in the fireplace and put a few logs from the box by the fireplace onto the hot coals. I poked them with the poker and soon a nice and toasty fire was burning again, chasing away the chill in the room. Then I made my way to the privy.

After using the facilities, I went back to the bed, parted the drapes, and crawled back into our warm, safe little love nest.

Alistair had now rolled over onto his back. My cheeks flushed pink as I couldn’t help but stare at that part of him which brought me so much pleasure. Then I had to suppress a giggle as I saw him waking up… in more ways than one. _Maker’s Breath!_ I laughed inside. _Again?!_ I knelt over him, lightly kissed his lips, and murmured, “You wonderful, crazy, silly man, you.”

He slowly opened his eyes. “You know, I kept waking up through the night for fear it was all a dream…” he replied softly; a gentle, teasing smile on his lips.

“Are you sure it isn’t just your insatiable nature?” I jested.

His golden eyes twinkled. “Oh, last I checked, love, you seem to be just as insatiable as I…” He ran his hand down my back, over my ass, and then moved to the front, where he began lightly stroking my clit. As I cried out, he said with a grin, “And of course, we both have the renowned Grey Warden stamina…”

“Two can play your game, you know.” I gave a sexy smile, grasped his cock, and slowly lowered myself onto him.

He gave a smug grin back at me. “Ah, I see… Instead of wanting breakfast in bed, you want bed for breakfast?” He gave a light smack to my ass, then gripped my hips.

I started riding him hard, making him growl with satisfaction. “Not… a problem?” I gasped out.

Molten eyes glinting, he gruffly replied, “With you, never…”

 

We dozed off again after that last romp, Alistair holding me tightly against his body. We probably could have slept on, blissfully content, for quite some time… if it hadn’t been for a new aroma tickled my nose.

_Kafija!_

I untangled myself from Alistair’s strong arms, hearing him groan slightly as I pulled away.

“Hey…” he muttered, “Where’re you going?”

I dug around the sheets on the bed until I found my discarded lingerie and silk smalls. _It may not provide much cover_ , I thought, _but if someone is still in the room, I don’t want to be stark naked!_ I slipped on the barely-there clothing, then opened the bed curtains slightly.

Victoria was just leaving the bedroom. She turned as she heard the rustling of the curtains, saw me, and gave me a soft smile. Then she left.

On the table next to the bed, she had left a tray of breakfast goodies.

I used my magic to quickly tie back the curtains, grabbed the large tray, and carefully set it on the bed. Then I quickly poured myself the hot drink and mixed in the milk and sweetener. I held the mug under my nose, inhaled its savory, spicy aroma, and sighed in bliss.

“Hmph, I sometimes wonder if you love that drink more than me,” Alistair sounded grumpy, but his lips still held a slight smile.

I laughed. “While my morning kafija brings me much satisfaction, you, my dear, fulfill my needs in many other… creative ways.”

He got up from the bed, grabbed a pair of linen pants, slipped them on, then flopped back onto the bed with a huge grin. “Oh? Do tell…”

I smirked and waggled my finger at him “Ah-ah… We are _so_ not going there! I think we both could use just a bit of a break, yes?” I then took a pastry off of the tray and shoved it in his mouth. I laughed at the baffled expression on his face.

He bit off a piece of the pastry and mumbled, his mouth full, “S’pose thas fair enuff…” He chewed the bite and swallowed it. “Say… this is good! It’s filled with cheese!” He then proceeded to quickly devour the rest of it.

“You are a cheese fiend,” I said as I rolled my eyes at him.

“Was wrong wif that?” he replied, his mouth full again.

“I’ve seen… _smelled_ some of the cheese you eat!”

“Well then, more for me, love!”

“I swear on the Maker’s name, don’t even try to kiss me after you eat any Orleasian cheese…”

Alistair made sad-looking eyes at me; his mouth in a pout. “Not even a little kiss? You’d make me sacrifice my love of fine cheese, just so I get to kiss those luscious lips of yours?” He sighed in an exaggerated fashion. “Woman, you are too cruel…”

I grinned as I shook my head. “Just remember the old saying, ‘A minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips’.”

His eyes glinted mischievously. “You realize that can take on a whole new context with us? Hmm?”

My eyes widened at his implication. “You are so… so…”

“Yeeeesss?”

I swatted a pillow at him, but it missed.

“Now, now, love. Play nice.” He reached up and slowly drew my face closer to his for a kiss.

To my surprise, he kept it short and sweet. He grabbed a sausage off the tray, bit into it, and then asked, “So how’s the weather outside?”

I poured him a plain mug a kafija, handed it to him, and said, “Take a look,” I gestured to the windows. “It’s still snowing.”

“Hmm.” He took a sip from the mug. “So it’s an indoors kind of day then?”

I looked at him incredulously. “You aren’t suggesting we spend _all day_ in bed, are you?”

“Weeellll…” When he saw the look on my face, he burst out in laughter. “I’m joking, love! Really! Even with Grey Warden stamina, I can only go so far…” He took another sip, cleared his throat, and grinned. “Besides, if we do it all, right here, right now, what’s left after that?”

“I’m sure Zevran would disagree that _everything_ in that department could be done in one day.”

“Knowing him, you are probably right!” he replied, laughing again.

“Maybe it will clear up later and we can get some fresh air.”

“I guess we will see,” he gulped down the rest of his kafija. “For now though, I think I’d love a hot bath, then we could head downstairs and see what the rest of the day will bring.”

 

As it turned out, the snow did keep us at the inn for three more days. While we did spend some of it in the tavern, having meals, drinks, conversing, and playing cards or chess with other guests, a lot of our time was indeed spent in our room… or more precisely, our bed. Despite my teasing him about it the first morning after, it truly seemed that we couldn’t get enough of each other. We experimented with all sorts of new lovemaking positions.

One that had driven us both completely mad with lust, was watching ourselves in a long floor-length mirror I had found in the back corner of our room. I was sitting on Alistair’s lap as he took me from behind. Seeing my love – watching his face, his expressions – as he thrust up and into me had been so erotic, I had come harder than I ever had before. If Alistair hadn’t covered my mouth, the entirety of the inn would have heard me screaming in pleasure.

But by day three of being indoors, we were getting a bit of cabin fever. We bundled up in our warmest clothes and ventured out into the snow. It was late in the afternoon and snowdrifts were pretty high in some areas of town, so we didn’t venture too far.

“Quite the snowstorm, hmm?” Alistair mused as gave my hand a squeeze.

I nodded. “It wouldn’t have been fun traveling in it, that is for sure.” I scooped some of the fine powdery snow into my gloved hand and sprinkled it onto Alistair’s hair.

“Hey!” He shook his head, causing some of the snow to get on me. “Crazy woman! Don’t mess with my hair!” He grinned and then backed me up against a large tree. “You are trouble with a capital ‘T’…”

I grabbed the front of his coat and pulled him closer to me. “Would you want me any other way?”

“Minx…” His lips grazed across mine.

“Maker, I want you…” I kissed him long and deep.

After the kiss ended, he gave a deep chuckle. “As much as I’d love to have some au naturale sex with you, love of my life… I think it might just be a wee bit too chilly out here?”

“Where is your sense of adventure?” I murmured.

“After all that we have done in that room over the last three days, are you actually suggesting that **I** have no sense of adventure?” He picked up a handful of snow and tried to form it into a snowball, but it was too dry and didn’t stick. I laughed at his efforts. He gave a mock growl and scooped another handful of snow up… only this time he pulled the neckline of my coat and dress back. He dumped the snow down my back. I squealed.

“Cold! Cold! COLD!” I yelped as it melted down my back and dripped into my smalls. “You… evil… bastard!!” I snarled, albeit playfully.

“Royal bastard, remember?” He stuck out his tongue at me.

I grabbed his coat again and backed him up against the tree trunk. “That was so… mean!” I tried to sound angry but could help but start giggling again at his goofy expressions. Suddenly, a huge clump of snow fell from the tree’s upper branches and showered us both in the powdery white stuff.

Soaking wet and laughing, we made our way back to the inn. Victoria quickly asked if she could bring us up some hot water for a bath. Alistair agreed and also asked for two bowls of hot stew and mulled cider to be brought up about an hour later.

We both headed up to our room and stripped out of our wet clothing. After hanging them up, Alistair and I crawled under the covers of the bed to keep warm while we waited for Victoria to bring up our hot water. Other than the occasional kiss or gentle touch, we kept ourselves in check, knowing that Victoria would be arriving soon.

Within the next twenty minutes, she had the tub filled. “Apologies that took so long, ser,” she said to Alistair.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said and smiled at her as he held me close. “We didn’t mind waiting at all.”

Victoria blushed and then left the room.

Once we heard the door close, Alistair and I got up from the bed and made our way to the large tub. I stuck my hand in the water. It was comfortable, but I decided to heat it up a bit more with my magic. Then I got in, followed by my love.

He embraced me from behind. “What’s wrong? You seem very quiet all of a sudden.”

I sighed. “Ali?”

“Yes, love? What is it?” He sat down in the water and then pulled me onto his lap.

“Are we doing the right thing?”

For a moment he was silent, then he spoke, his voice sounding nervous, “Y-you’re not thinking of… leaving? Are you? I… I mean, I thought things have been wonderful these past few- ”

“Oh! Maker no, Ali! I am very happy we are together again. I love you. Of course, I still do have some fears about how it will work out between us, but that isn’t what I am worried about. At least not at this moment.”

I heard him breathe a sigh of relief, but it was quickly followed by him joking, “We forgot to lick a lamppost while outside… didn’t we?”

I sighed and shook my head. “I’m being serious, dear.”

“Sorry,” he apologized. “So, what is wrong then?”

“I am worried about the darkspawn. I mean, here we are, holed up in a gorgeous inn, keeping warm from the cold, enjoying fine food and drinks, and making love almost constantly… and there is no one out there fighting them right now. No one to stop them from spreading their taint across the land. We are Grey Wardens! We should be out there fighting! We shouldn’t be… vacationing!”

“You’re feeling guilty?”

“Yes! Why are we still here in Denerim? We should at least have tried to make our way to the Dalish! We could have spent the winter with them, working on our negotiations with them.”

“Love, the closest clan of Dalish I am aware of are somewhere in the Brecilian Forest. Those woods are huge and take up about a quarter of the entire nation of Ferelden… not to mention that the Dalish are a nomadic people and move around.”

“But- ”

He put a finger to my lips and continued. “I remember Duncan telling me that there is a clan that tends to frequent an area of the forest about a day… day-and-a-half east of South Reach sometime during the early springtime. Within a few weeks, it should be warm enough for us to travel there and begin our search. Running around now, when we could potentially get caught in a major storm, would not be wise.”

“And what of the darkspawn? I don’t think they celebrate the holidays… or worry about how snowy it is.”

Actually, my love, darkspawn are less active in the cold. Or so a few senior Wardens told me once.”

What was their reasoning behind that?” I asked, still doubtful.

“I never got a full answer, but it could be that the archdemon was once a dragon… and dragons, like their reptilian cousins, are susceptible to cold.”

“And the darkspawn?”

“Won’t do anything much without orders from the archdemon. If it is hiding or hibernating from the cold…” He gently stroked my cheek. “At least I feel confident enough to say that there may be a few random attacks, but nothing like what we will have to deal with when the archdemon is fully awake.”

“You are sure?”

“As sure as I can be without anyone else to ask. Look, when I was at the Warden compound here in Denerim, I read up on some random documents that had information on past Blights. There did seem to be a pattern of inactivity when cold weather hit. It was at that time that the Warden-Commanders would do their best to help and replenish the numbers lost during the many battles fought earlier.”

I thought about that. “I suppose that would make some sense.” I sighed again. “It is a real shame we can’t go to the compound while we are here.”

Alistair’s face darkened. “Yes. Likely that Loghain, Howe, and their lackeys probably have cleaned out the place and have taken it for their own use. All of the stuff we had there… weapons, uniforms, books, history… gone because one madman decided that this wasn’t a true Blight. That the real threat wasn’t darkspawn… but rather a nation that we have – for all practical purposes – been at peace with for about thirty years!”

An idea came to me. “Where is the compound?”

“Why do you want to know? We won’t be able to get it. Loghain probably has guards patrolling it… especially now that he knows we are here.”

“What about Zev? Or Leli? One of them might be able to get in,” I said.

Alistair looked at me with curiosity. “What good would it do?”

“They could at least find out what happened to the compound… maybe even find something?”

“No, I don’t think it is a good idea. What if they get caught?”

“But- ”

He shook his head. “Love, I don’t want to risk it. We are treading thin ice here. To be honest, I keep worrying that guards are going to show up any day now and take us in for ‘questioning’.”

“Well then maybe you shouldn’t have insisted that we wait in the Chantry so that Loghain could see us,” I replied, my voice taking on a slight edge.

“Do you want me to admit I made a mistake?” He sounded slightly angry. “All right then, yes. What I did was probably a stupid thing to do… but it was spur of the moment! I just heard that sermon from the Revered Mother and…”

I held my hand up briefly, then leaned against his chest. “Alistair, stop… please. I’m sorry. Let’s not fight. What’s done is done. I didn’t mean to upset you… Honestly, I just thought that maybe we could have found something at the compound that could have… helped us with our mission.”

He gave a deep sigh. “If you were hoping for anything that would help us find and kill the archdemon any faster, then I hate to disappoint. There was nothing special there. Just barracks, storage, a library, kitchens… To be honest, I was hoping we’d find something more at Soldier’s Peak. But all we found there were ghosts and demons.”

I thought about Avernus and wondered what he was doing up there all by himself in his tower. Then my thoughts drifted back to the potion I had taken. I hadn’t had anymore coughing fits or blood coming from my mouth, and I felt fine… but there was a small nagging feeling that my clock was ticking. Knowing how Alistair felt about it, I decided to keep it to myself.

The water was rapidly cooling off, so I briefly reheated it so we could wash. Then we got out, dried off, and got dressed in some simple clothes.

Alistair was fiddling with the logs on the fireplace, while I sat on the sofa of the sitting room waiting for him. Just then there was a knock at the door or our room.

“Must be Victoria with our meal,” I said. “I’ll go get it.”

To my surprise, it was Leliana that greeted me when I opened the door. She had our tray of food. Smiling, she then said, “May I come in?”

“Of course! But how did you get here?” I asked.

She walked in and set our tray of food on the low table by the sofa. “Some of the roads are clear. There is word also that the weather should be much warmer in the coming days. I came by to see how you both were doing! You both disappeared from the party so suddenly that night. Is everything well with you both? You are doing all right?”

Alistair came up behind me and put his arms around me. “Better than all right,” he said as he kissed my neck. I couldn’t help but giggle a bit.

“Ah, I see!” Leliana’s eyes twinkled. “This is wonderful news! I am so happy you are together again!”

“So am I,” Alistair mumbled into my neck. He then swept me up into his arms, making me squeal. He carried me over to the sofa and sat down, keeping me on his lap. I could feel why too, but if he thought Leli hadn’t noticed…

She gave me a knowing smile and a wink. “I will leave you two lovebirds alone then. I know the rest of our group will be happy to hear the good news though.” She came up to us both and took my hand into hers. I felt her slip a small piece of paper into my hand; her eyes quickly telling me to keep it a secret. I gave a tiny nod. “Good evening to you both. I’m sure we’ll see each other around town again soon.” Then she turned and left.

I quickly stuffed the paper into the gap between the sofa and the cushion as Alistair murmured into my ear, “Now where were we?”

I laughed lightly, “Slow down there, lover boy! We need to eat first. No sense in letting the food get cold and go to waste.”

“Hmmph… details.” He hissed a slight groan as I slid off of his lap. I handed him his bowl of stew and he quickly started wolfing it down.

“Maker, Alistair!” I rolled my eyes. “You’re going to make yourself sick eating that so fast.”

“Wanna gef do de man courss,” he mumbled, his mouth full.

“This is all we ordered. What main course?”

He swallowed his mouthful and said, “You.” Then he grinned.

I shook my head and smiled. “Should have figured as much.”

 

Much later, after Alistair had fallen asleep. I slid off the bed and walked back into the sitting room. I felt for the paper and when my fingers brushed up against it, I pulled it out. By the light of the dying embers of the sitting room fire, I read: _I am worried about Zevran. He has been very quiet lately and not confiding anything to me… but I can tell something is bothering him. I would appreciate it if you could try and talk to him? Meet_ _him_ _at the Merry Mabari tomorrow at lunch._ _See if you can find a way_ _to_ _come without_ _Alistair._

Nodding to myself, I then wadded the paper up and threw it into the fireplace and watched it burn until it was completely gone. I figured Leli had told me this in this way because she wanted me to be alone with Zevran and may have been worried that Alistair might get jealous.

As I slipped back under the covers and snuggled closer to my love, I thought, _Nothing for him to get jealous over… he has my heart, fully and completely._

 

Dawn of the fourth day after Satinalia, the sun was beaming warm and bright through our room windows. I heard something that sounded like someone tapping on glass. Shaking off the dregs of sleep, I sat up on the bed. Outside the window of our room, I saw an owl holding something in its beak. It was the owl who had been tapping on our window.

I quickly got up off the bed. Alistair muttered something incoherent. I found the latch and opened up the window. A blast of cold air blew into the room as the owl flew in and then perched on top of the corner of the four-poster bed. I quickly shut the window.

“Maker’s Breath!” Alistair suddenly cried out as the cold air hit him. “What in the?!” He pulled the covers tight around him.

“Sorry, Ali,” I said, but still giggled a little at his comedic look. “I think this must be the owl Morrigan charmed.”

“Huh? Owl? What owl?” He glanced around the room.

Knowing that owls had very sharp talons, I went to the closet and fetched one of Alistair’s heavy leather gloves. It swam on my small hand, but it would still protect me. I held out my gloved arm and the owl fluttered down to it. Then I moved my arm closer to the bed and the owl hopped onto the mattress. It then opened its beak and dropped the rolled up parchment into my hand.

“Wow,” Alistair breathed, “I’ve never seen one this close before.” He reached out his hand to try and touch it, but it snapped its beak at him. “Hey!” He quickly withdrew his hand. “Yeah, Morrigan definitely charmed it,” he muttered, checking to make sure all his fingers were still intact. “So what did it have there?”

“It’s a letter from Levi,” I said. “Oh, that’s right. You didn’t know about this. After Morrigan assisted the two elves up to Soldier’s Peak, she charmed this owl so that if Levi had any news to give us, he could get in touch with us. This owl will be able to find me no matter where I go.”

“So, what does he have to say?”

I read the letter out loud.

 

“ _Warden Kylara,_

 

 _I hope this letter finds you well. The storm that hit you in Denerim also blew its way up here._ _Made quite a mess of things up here, but we are starting to clean up today. Your little elven friends have been a great help to me and my family since your_ _lady_ _witch_ _companion_ _brought them up here. I did as you instructed and gave them one sovereign per day. But then they turned around and gave it right back, they did. Said they didn’t know what they’d do with it, so I have just held onto the gold for now. Perhaps when you come and visit again, you can help them understand._

_Anyway, the main reason I am writing to you today is that we had a bit of a Satinalia miracle up here, we did. A big, shiny rock, fell flaming from the sky and hit the mountain about a half-days walk from your Keep. My brother, Mikhael, says he’s seen this kind of thing happen before and once he retrieves this ‘star metal,’ as he calls it, he wanted me to ask you what kind of weapon you’d like him to forge for you from it._

 

_Sincerely, Levi Dryden”_

 

I paused, glanced at Alistair, then said, “Star metal? You’d think the Circle Tower would have heard of something like that. We studied the stars. I have never seen one fall from the sky.”

“I haven’t either. Also, if it was a rock, how could it also be metal? Maybe you could ask Wynne later. Perhaps she’s heard of such a thing.”

I shrugged. “Well, I’m not going to turn him down. I suppose an extra weapon could come in handy in this upcoming war.”

I went into the sitting room. There was a small desk in the corner, and from it, I retrieved parchment, quill, and ink. I jotted a quick note back to Levi.

 

_Levi,_

 

_Thank you so much for all you are doing for us. We will probably be here in Denerim for a few more weeks, then we will head towards South Reach. From there we will move on to the Brecilian Forest to look for the Dalish._

_If your brother wishes to forge a weapon for us from this… Star Metal, then I suppose a one-handed sword would be more versatile in the long run. Thank him for us._

 

_Take Care, Kylara & Alistair_

 

_P.S. Yes, we are back together._

 

I wasn’t really sure why I had added on that last bit, but I guessed it was because he had shown genuine concern about the two of us back when we had traveled together. _I suppose it will at least ease his mind…_ I thought.

I blew gently on the parchment to help the ink to dry quicker, then rolled it up and sealed it with a few drops of wax. Back in the bedroom, I put the leather glove back on. The owl immediately flew to my hand. At the window, I gave the owl my letter, and it hooted softly. With my free hand, I opened the window and the owl immediately took off, flying north and west.

After I shut the window and turned back to Alistair, I heard him chuckle. “Owl post? So what’s next for you mages… flying brooms?” **36**

I threw at him with a pillow and muttered, “Idiot.”

Alistair made a silly sounding whimper. “I’m an idiot? Really?”

I crawled back onto the bed, leaned forward, and gave a tender kiss to his forehead. “Yes. But you are **my** idiot.”

His face lit up with that goofy grin of his that made me love him so much. “Well, in that case… I guess that makes it okay!”

 

After breakfast, I told Alistair that Leliana wanted to do some shopping with me. “She wants to show me a bunch of silly Orleasian outfits she found in a shop.”

“You’re sounding like you don’t want me tagging along,” Alistair frowned slightly.

“I… just didn’t think it would interest you. Besides, isn’t tonight that thing you wanted to take me to? The one you got tickets for?”

Alistair quickly counted on his fingers. “Hey, you’re right! Well, then I suppose I could get everything ready for tonight then! It will be lots of fun, I am sure you’ll enjoy it! Go on and have some fun with Leli, then. Just meet me back here around sunset.”

“Sure, I’ll be here.” I gave him a quick kiss, but he grabbed me around my waist and peppered my face and neck with hot kisses of his own.

“Miss you while you’re gone,” he mumbled, his face buried against my neck.

“It won’t be that long, you goofy man! I’ll be back before you know it.” I pulled away from his embrace and kissed the tip of his nose. “Sunset will be here before you know it.”

 

I got to the Merry Mabari just as the sun was at its peak in the sky. Zevran was waiting outside for me. I smiled a greeting.

“Well, hello there, my charming friend. What brings you out to our end of town?”

 _I guess Leli didn’t tell him I was coming specifically to talk with him,_ I thought. _Guess I’ll just wing it then and see if he opens up._ “I can’t stop by and see my friends?”

“Of course you can! I just figured you might still be… busy with other business?” Zev grinned. “Leli told me you were back together with Alistair and that last night he seemed very… eager to be alone with you.”

“After four days I think a small break was all right,” I said with a blush.

“Oho! Four days?! Care to share any juicy tidbits of your sexual marathon with your handsome fellow Warden?”

I blushed an even deeper shade of red, but managed to quickly say, “A lady never kisses and tells, Zev.”

“Perhaps not, but I am sure the two of you did much more than kiss, yes?”

“Zev!”

He laughed and pat my shoulder, “Breathe, friend… I only jest! While I do crave some delicious sexual gossip, I will respect your privacy.” I began to relax a bit, until that knowing grin came back to his face. “Mostly, that is…”

I sighed in exasperation. _Zev would be Zev…_ I cleared my throat and then asked, “So where is everyone else?”

“I found a place that Sten and Oghren could put their muscle to good work while we are here. They should be there now. Wynne, I believe, is helping at the Chantry. Leli went to her job early this morning… and don’t ask where. She told me she would surprise you later.”

I nodded. “And Morrigan?”

“Ah, our wily witch,” Zev smirked. “She decided to fly off somewhere this morning. I don’t know where.”

“Fly?”

“She became a raven.”

“Oh. I should have figured that out for myself.” I smiled. “So, guess it’s just you and me today, then.”

Zevran’s eyes brightened. “It would seem so, lovely Kylara. So…” He waggled an eyebrow at me. “What do you have in mind?”

“How about some lunch… then we can browse the marketplace for a bit?”

“Not what I had in mind, naturally, but as I still get to spend it with you… How could I refuse?”

 

At a small corner booth inside the Merry Mabari, Zev was polishing off some lamb stew, while I sipped a sweet mead. We chatted about various things, and then I decided to steer the conversation in a different direction.

“So… do you actually enjoy being an assassin?” I asked.

Zev’s eyebrows went up with curiosity. “An odd topic to bring up during lunch, but sure. There are many things to enjoy about being a Crow in Antiva. You are respected. You are feared. The authorities go out of their way to overlook your trespasses. Even the rewards are nothing to turn your nose up at. As for the killing part, well... Some people simply need assassinating. Or do you disagree?”

I dropped my voice to a whisper. “You’ve never killed an innocent?”

“Now there’s an interesting word, ‘innocent’.” Zevran gave a half-smile. “How many men do you know who can claim to be truly innocent? But if you’re talking in generalities, such as children, relatives, or bystanders, and such... Never on purpose, but it happens.” He put his spoon down and sighed. “It’s unfortunate, but death comes to us all. If not me, then some wasting disease. Or fall down the stairs. Or at the hands of a darkspawn. It’s all relative in the end.”

I hesitated slightly, then replied, “I suppose that is true.”

“‘Death happens’, as we like to say. And when I get paid for it, death happens more often. As far as enjoying the act of killing itself, why not? There’s a certain artistry to the deed, the pleasure of sinking your blade into their flesh and knowing that their life is in your hands.”

I’m sure my face must have shown some distaste for his comment, as I saw him shrug. I wasn’t really sure where I was going with this conversation, but I kept going. “Is there anything you didn’t like about being under The Crows?”

“There are many things I did not enjoy about them, of course. Having no choice, being treated as an expendable commodity, the rules... Oh, so many rules! But simply being an assassin? I like it just fine. I will continue to do it if I can, even if I’m no longer a Crow. Honestly, could you picture me doing anything else?” He gave a smirk.

“Don’t you have any other skills?”

He laughed lightly. “None that I wouldn’t get into trouble for performing publicly!” He dabbed his lips with his napkin, then said, “Of course all these thoughts are moot. Chances are still good that you and I will perish, eaten by darkspawn or slain by The Crows that are after us at some point. Very gruesomely, I imagine.”

“That’s not a very cheerful outlook, is it?”

“Perhaps not. I just tend to look at the situation we are in, in a more realistic fashion.”

I reached over and touched his hand lightly. “What about hope?”

“Ah, hope.” He gave a deep sigh. “Yes, there is always hope.” He took my hand into his. “You are that hope, my friend. You and Alistair both. When you spared my life back then, you gave me something new to believe in… When I had all but given up, you gave me a reason to live.”

I had never heard Zevran sound so melancholy. I was quiet for a moment, then asked softly, “What do you mean you had given up?”

Zev suddenly looked uncomfortable, as though he wished he could take back what he had just said. “You know, I am feeling a bit stuffy. Perhaps we should go and get some fresh air, no?” He quickly got up from the table and headed for the door.

I left several sovereigns on the table to pay for the food and drink… and then followed him outside.

 

We walked in silence for a bit, then I asked him, “Would you care to tell me about some of your adventures?”

“Quite chatty today, are we?” He gave me another smile. “Let me think… my adventures?” He laughed lightly. “I'm hardly an old man just returned from across the ocean, am I? I am only twenty and four, after all! Should I shake my fist at nearby children while I talk about the good old days?”

“You’ve certainly talked like you’ve had adventures.”

“True. Well then, what would you like to hear? I could tell you all about the grueling training? Being locked in an oubliette for weeks at a time? The slavery? The festering injuries? Or we seeking something more glamorous?”

I rolled my eyes. “Something more glamorous, I think.”

“That should be easy enough, I think. Let's see. My second mission ever for The Crows was a bit intriguing. I was sent to kill a mage who had been meddling in politics.”

“A mage? Really? And they were meddling in politics? How?”

“How should I know? I got the impression it involved sex... But then I get that impression about most everything. Odd, really.” I stifled a laugh. Zevran continued, “As it turned out, the mage in question was quite a delightful young woman. Long, divine legs, as I recall. I caught her in a carriage on her way to escape Antiva City. After I killed her guards, she got down on her hands and knees and begged for her life... Rather aptly, I might add. So I joined her in the carriage for the night and left the next morning.”

“And she didn't try to kill you?”

“Well, yes. Twice, actually. Then she decided to try and use me, instead. The woman had actually convinced me to speak to The Crows on her behalf. What can I say, I was young and foolish at the time. Then as I was kissing her goodbye to return Antiva City, she slipped on the threshold and fell backward out of the carriage. Broke her neck. Shame, really, but at least it happened quickly.”

“Were you upset?”

“At first, yes. Well, not upset... Surprised is really a better word. Then I found out that she had told her driver to take her to Ansburg, in the Free Marches, instead. She had planned to lose me by fleeing to another country! I would have looked very foolish to The Crows. As it was, my master was very impressed that I had done that such a fine job of making it look like an accident. The Circle of Magi was unaware of foul play and everyone was happier all around.”

“Except for the mage,” I laughed.

“I suppose, but she was dead! She didn't need to be happy! It was after that when I learned that one needn't let a pretty face go to your head. Professionalism was key. That's my moral of the day, you see.”

I nodded. “It is a wise lesson to learn.”

“And one that not everyone learns, I'm sad to say.”

I grinned at him. “Any other adventures you wish to share with me?”

“Well, the only one that's really worth telling… and that is the story of the mission right before I came to Ferelden…” Zevran suddenly stopped in his tracks and quickly said, “But... No, I-I would rather not. Forget I said anything.”

Concerned, I asked, “What's the problem?”

For the first time ever, I saw Zevran’s eyes go cold. “Nothing that I would prefer to speak of. Don’t ask again, I am sorry.”

 

 _So this is what Leli was worried about,_ I thought. _He’s been thinking about whatever happened on this last mission of his. I’m not sure how I’ll get him to open up to me… but maybe another opportunity will present itself._

We continued on in silence to the main market, Zevran walking a few steps behind me. Up ahead, I saw a vendor ahead that had some exotic animals in cages. While I was not happy they were confined, I still wanted to see them up close. I started to move closer when Zev quickly grabbed my sleeve.

“Hey, Kylara, I don’t like the look of this merchant. He looks shifty. Perhaps we should move on?”

I glanced at Zevran, confusion on my face. “I just want to get a closer look at the animals, won’t that be okay?”

Reluctantly, he let me go and stared at the ground. “Let us not tarry here too long, please.”

“All right,” I replied softly. I headed over to the animals.

“Ah!” the older merchant rubbed his hands together. “Another visitor to my stall. Enjoy browsing my wares.”

As I gazed at the animals, I asked politely, “Who are you, ser?”

He gave a deep bow to me. “Master Trader Ignacio, at your service, good madam. My cousin and I have trade connections all along the seaways. We have furniture, silks, carvings, and much more. Cesar handles the trade stock. I handle... other affairs.”

“You not from Ferelden, are you?” I could hear the accent, but couldn’t place it.

“No, I am not. I am a Trader at heart. My home is the road. But I was born past the Waking Sea in Antiva.”

 _So that's why his accent sounded familiar._ _It_ _ **was**_ _like Zevran’s, but there was a subtle difference in tonal quality._ “My friend is from Antiva as well,” I said.

“Your friend?”

“Yes, he is right over - ” I looked behind me, but Zev was nowhere to be found. I turned back to Ignacio. “Hmm… he was there a minute ago. Maybe he wandered off somewhere?”

“Perhaps,” Ignacio said, an odd look in his eyes. He then smiled at me and continued. “It has been many, many years since I've seen her. But the road... she is a better mistress than my home city ever was.”

Curious, I asked, “What do you mean?”

“On the docks of Rialto life is cheap. As cheap as the dockside ale and the soiled whores. You can live a longer life out here and a wise man can make a comfortable fortune in time.”

I picked up a smooth marble… statue? Then I quickly realized it **wasn’t** a statue, but rather a sex toy of some type. Red-faced, I put it down and muttered, “With the Blight, Ferelden isn't exactly safe, either.”

Ignacio smirked. “Straightforward, predictable danger is refreshing to me. Any moment in Rialto the streets can run red... and often do. I’d take darkspawn any day. At least you can see them coming.”

 _You may not think that once you really do see them coming,_ I thought. Instead, I simply nodded and politely replied, “Thank you for letting me look around. I should get going now.”

“Very well. I’m sure we will speak again… soon.”

Wondering what he had meant by that, I left Ignacio’s booth and walked back over to Zevran, who had suddenly reappeared. Glancing at the sky, I then said, “Probably should head back to the Gnawed Noble… Alistair is taking me out this evening.”

“Would you be so kind to at least walk back to the rooming house with me, Kylara? I really don’t feel like being alone just yet.”

“Of course, Zev.”

We walked in silence again. I thought I should try to see if he’d be willing to talk again, but instead I kept quiet. It was Zev who broke the silence once we had reached the rooming house.

“I have a question, if I may…”

“Sure, Zev. What’s on your mind?”

He paused for a moment, then said, “Here is the thing. I swore an oath to serve you, yes? I understand this quest your on… and this is all very fine and well. But what do you intend to do with me once this business with the archdemon is done and over with?”

Concerned, I asked, “Does your oath expire then?”

“Not precisely, no. I said I would serve you until you saw fit to release me. One just assumes that once your Grey Warden job is done, you would have no need of an assassin following you about. Am I wrong to think this?”

I put my hand on his shoulder. “You are more than just an assassin to me, Zev. You are a friend. I would be honored to have you stay… if you want to, that is.”

He gave me a gentle smile. “One simply never knows what is to come next. I mean, how could I have suspected that I would end up defeated by a beautiful Grey Warden, a woman who then spared my life? I could not.”

“Now you’re flattering me…”

“I say you are beautiful because it is true.” He then embraced me in a hug. Softly, he whispered in my ear, “Alistair is a very lucky man.” He then let me go, smiled, and said, “Have fun tonight.” Then he disappeared inside the building.

 

Back at the Gnawed Noble, I was just about to head inside, when a thin, wiry youth ran up to me.

“Message for you, ma’am!” He handed me a small folded piece of paper.

“Who - ”

He cut me off, saying, “Gotta run! More messages to deliver!” And he was gone. I unfolded the paper and read.

 

 _We know who you are._ _You and your man._ _We w_ _ant_ _you to meet us tomorrow at the Crimson Wing._ **37** _High sun_ _._ _We expect the both of you._ _Oh, and_ _please_ _bring your little elf friend, too._ _Tell no one else of this meeting._

 

I swallowed a nervous lump in my throat and glanced around. There were not many people on the streets since there was still quite a bit of snow. No one was looking in my direction, but that didn’t mean that the person who sent this was in plain sight.

I quickly folded the note back up tightly and headed inside. _Alistair needs_ _to_ _know_ _about_ _this as soon as possible._

I got up to our room in short order. Alistair was already dressed for our evening out, wearing the other new outfit I had bought him. He looked fantastic, I couldn’t help but stare, a smile on my face.

He had been looking at a book when I entered the room, but I quickly realized he was staring blankly at it… and there was something crumpled in his hand.

My smile faded. “Alistair? What’s going on?” Had the same person sent Alistair a similar note to mine?

He got up off of the couch; the book falling to the floor with a muted thump. He embraced me tightly and I felt him shaking. His breath hitched.

“Ali, love, talk to me? Please?”

He led me to the couch and had me sit next to him. He tried to say something but ended up just handing me the crumpled paper. I put it on my lap, smoothed it out, and then read it.

 

_Alistair,_

 

 _What in the void were you thinking when you let Loghain_ _see you and Kylara at the Satinalia Eve Service?! You need to be more careful! You told me he had already sent one assassin after you! Do you really want to give this man cause to send another?_ _We do not know what is really going on in his mind! He poisoned me! …and I had once considered this man my ally and friend! Clear_ _ly this indicates_ _there is more going here than we know!_ _From here on out, I expect you to act more responsibly!_

 _It has also been brought to my attention from people I know in Denerim, that you and Kylara are still together as a couple. I thought my brother had made it clear_ _when he spoke to you_ _in Rainesfere_ _,_ _that you need to break off this relationship with her! You are going to be King_ –  _if all goes well at the Landsmeet, and you_ _must_ _find a young woman of noble blood to have as your Queen. Kylara, I am sorry to say – for I really do appreciate everything she has done for me and my family – is not an acceptable choice in this matter._ _Please, break off this relationship before you return to Redcliffe. Do this for me… for the man who raised you and loves you as much as if you were my own son._

 

_Sincerely, E._

 

“Oh, Alistair… I am so sorry,” I quietly said as I folded the letter up.

He sighed deeply and took the letter from my hand. He stared at it for a moment, then angrily wadded it up and threw it onto the fire. “What am I going to do?” he moaned.

I watched the letter burn, then I turned and faced him, a determined look on my face. “Here is what we are **not** going to do. We are not going to let it spoil our evening out. We will go to this…”

“Play,” he answered for me. “It’s a play.”

“Very well. We go to this play and we have fun. We come back here, have dinner, and relax for the evening. Tomorrow, after a good night’s sleep, we will figure out what we can do. You planned this evening for us to have fun and enjoy ourselves and that is **exactly** what we will do.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Ali. Now let me go get dressed, so we can have our night out. Tomorrow, we will figure out what we can do. I promise.”

He just nodded numbly.

 _Damn it, Eamon,_ I thought as I walked into the bedroom. _You are putting so much pressure on Alistair! I should have also suspected that_ _you_ _’d have friends here that_ _c_ _ould report back to_ _you_ _. For all I know, it could be Peitr, or even Victoria, spying on us!_ _We will just have to be more_ _careful_ _from here on out._

I quickly got dressed in the other outfit I’d bought with Leliana. A pretty black and purple dress that had silver sparkles on it. I brushed out my hair, rebraided it, then slipped on my coat. I walked back into the sitting room.

Alistair’s eyes did light up upon seeing me. “You take my breath away, “ he gave a small smile as he embraced me. “I’m sorry I was so upset earlier. When that letter was delivered to the room earlier today…”

“Ali, you have every right to be upset. **I** am upset about it! I just didn’t want to ruin our evening. We will have to work something out tomorrow with it, but for now, let’s please just have some fun.”

He nodded then held out his arm for me. “Well then, shall we get going?”

 

We walked over to the richer section of town. In the upscale market area, there was a small building that many people were heading towards. We got into the line and waited. Alistair put his arm around me to help keep me warm in the cold night air. I knew I still had to bring up the note I’d been sent, but I knew it wouldn’t be wise now. _A_ _n opportunity will present itself soon, I_ _hope_.

Soon we were seated in the small building. Torches and lanterns lighting the stage were extinguished as a large heavy curtain was pulled up.

“How will we see?” I whispered as the last torch was put out.

“I don’t know,” Alistair whispered back. “I’m sure we’ll find out in a bit.”

Just then a large bright light streamed down from a balcony above us. I could feel the tingle of magic. “Magelight,” I quietly told him and pointed. “Heavily amplified, of course. I don’t even what to think how draining that might be!”

“Maybe there is more than one mage casting?”

“SHH!” someone in front of us shushed.

Red-faced, we quieted down and a moment later the play started. I quickly became enraptured. I had never seen anything like it before. It was a fun romantic comedy that had both of us laughing and crying at the same time. As we watched, Alistair held my hand tightly and occasionally nuzzled my neck, which made me tingle.

There was an intermission where they relit the torches and house lanterns. I got up to stretch and then looked up at the balcony above. There was a large glass circle being held by a metal frame. I could see the exhausted mage behind it drinking a lyrium potion. _That large glass thing must be what they are using to amplify the magelight_ , I thought. _To have a mage cast something so bright without help would have burned through their mana reserves way too quickly. But even with the glass, it’s clear that they have to be using multiple mages for this_. I mentioned this to Ali when I sat back down. He nodded.

The house lights were put out again and the second act began. To my shock and surprise, Leliana walked out onto the stage. I gripped Alistair’s arm. “This must be the ‘job’ she was talking about!” I whispered to him.

He quickly grinned in the darkness and whispered back, “I had no idea!”

Leliana had her lute and she played and sang a beautiful love song. When she finished, the audience stood up and cheered. We did the same. After she left, and people sat back down, the play continued.

During the final scene, Leliana came back out to play and sing again. She was incredible! We had heard her play and sing around our camps, but it was usually quiet and reserved. Here, she was projecting and performing for hundreds of people, and it was absolutely amazing!

Once the play was done, I asked Alistair if he thought we should try and get backstage to see Leliana. He nodded, so we carefully made our way up to the stage, brushing past the crowd who were moving in the opposite direction.

 

We did end up getting to speak with Leli briefly after the show. She was glad that we had enjoyed the performance and told us that the man who had put the show together had come across her singing one day, and that was how she’d managed to get in the play.

“Of course, due to the storm, the show only resumed tonight,” she said with a smile. “So this was my second time in it. I’ll be here doing this for another three weeks if we don’t get shut in by another blizzard. Perhaps I can get tickets for everyone in our group!”

We congratulated her on the performance again, and before we left, I did manage to let Leliana know that I urgently needed to speak with Zevran the next day. She said she’d pass along the message.

 

Back at the inn, we had a light supper. As he had done during the play, Alistair found gentle ways to touch and kiss me during our meal. The whole evening out had been as romantic and wonderful as he’d promised. We still had Eamon’s letter to discuss and the note that I had received earlier today, but for the moment I pushed them out of my mind. I figured I could bring them up once we were back in our room.

Alistair, however, had other ideas. Once upstairs, the door to our room had hardly been latched into place when he grabbed me and began ravishing my face and neck with hot kisses.

“Maker, Alistair!” I giggled when his lips brushed against a ticklish spot on my neck. “Shouldn’t we…” His lips covered mine again, preventing me from speaking for a moment. When he moved back to my neck, I continued from where I’d been cut off. “…talk about that letter?”

“Tomorrow,” he mumbled against my skin. “Yu saad tomorrow…” His tongue slid across the outer edge of my ear, then his teeth nipped my lobe. “Kinda busy righ’ now…”

“Mmm, that you are, you crazy man…” My laugh turned into a moan as his hands caressed my breasts through my dress. “So, how do you want me tonight?” I murmured.

“You’re wearing too much.” His hands reluctantly left my breasts and moved up my back. “Must remedy this…” He found the buttons on the back of my dress and began slowly unfastening them, one by one.

“Same could be said of you, you know.” I lightly caressed his erection through his pants.

His breath slowly hissed out and he momentarily paused in his task of removing my dress. “My love,” he whispered. “You always give me so much. Tonight, I want it to be all about _you_.” He leaned in and kissed me, long and soft.

Still kissing, his hands continued their task. I felt a few more buttons pop free and then the soft material of my dress was sliding down my arms and body until it was pooled in a circle around my feet. His hands now moved down to my breast band and it too was quickly removed.

As he slowly pulled away from his kiss, his teeth nipped my lower lip. My eyes must have glazed over, for I could barely focus on his handsome face. “Touch me…” I huskily whispered. “Please…”

He said nothing in reply, but his large hands moved to my front to cup my breasts. His thumbs brushed against my nipples making me moan again.

“You feel so amazing, Kylara. So warm and soft…” His left hand stayed on my breast, while his right moved down, past the waistband of my smalls, and then gently cupped my sex. “So… very _wet_.” A smug smile curved on his sensuous lips. “You might want to hold onto me, my love.”

I had barely gotten my arms around his neck, loosely locking my hands together, when he began to move those long fingers against my clit. My head fell back and I cried out.

He kept his breathing slow, even as he began to move his hand faster. His middle and index fingers were now inside me, thrusting, while his palm and thumb continued stimulating my clit. His left hand alternated between both of my nipples, giving both equal loving attention.

My own breathing was erratic; my eyes closed. I could feel myself getting closer and closer to climax.

“Look at me, love,” Alistair murmured in a deep voice. “I want to see your beautiful face when I make you come.

I could barely think, but I just managed to open my eyes. The heated look in his golden eyes was all it took. I came undone. His name fell from my lips in broken syllables.

His hand left my breasts and quickly moved around my back to help support me as my legs trembled from sheer delight.

Reality slowly crept back into existence for me. I saw Alistair remove his hand from my smalls, his fingers glistening with my pleasure. He gave me another sexy grin and put those wet fingers into his mouth, licking them clean. It was so erotic, I nearly came again just from watching him.

“Mmm… yummy,” he purred. He then scooped me into his strong arms and carried me into the bedroom. “Ready for round two?”

 

Morning arrived in its usual way. I slowly woke to find myself curled up tightly against Alistair. His arms held me snugly and I could feel his breath ruffle my hair as he still slept soundly on.

A huge smile came to my face as I replayed the events of last night in my mind. _He hadn’t been kidding when he said he wanted to make it all about me… making me come_ _ **four**_ _times with just his hands and his mouth! Then_ _ **finally**_ _fucking me senseless until I couldn’t tell up from down, back from front._ I grinned. _Maker, but I love this man!_

“You must be thinking pleasant thoughts, given that silly smile on your face,” Alistair murmured, his voice still thick from sleep. He then smirked slightly. “Or perhaps they are naughty thoughts, hmm? Your eyes are flickering sliver, my love.”

I kissed the tip of his nose. “Just thinking about you.” I gave a contented sigh. “Last night was…”

“Incredible? Astounding? Unbelievable? Marvelous?” He chuckled. “What can I say… I aim to please.”

“Modest, aren’t you? Where is that shy Chantry boy from a few months ago?”

“I was always a quick study.”

“No complaints from me, Alibear.” My smile slowly faded. “But as much as I’d love to continue this lovely tête-à-tête with you… I’m afraid we must move on to a slightly more serious discussion.”

He sighed. “I know. I wish we could put it off, but you are right.”

Alistair sat up in the bed. I did the same, pulling the sheet close to my chest and tucking it under my arms. This was not only to help me keep warm but to keep certain _distractions_ at bay.

“So, what exactly happened yesterday? You were here in the room getting ready…”

“There was a knock at the door. At first, I thought it was you, but it was the man from the relay station. He said it was urgent… that he’d been told to deliver it right away, rather than waiting for it to be picked up. I had no idea what to expect, but when I saw the Redcliffe seal on it, I figured it was serious.” Alistair stared at nothing in particular, a miserable look on his face. “I just don’t know what I am going to do, Kylara. I can’t give you up for the sake of duty. I love you too much. But I don't want to let Eamon down, either.”

“Well, I am not going to let them tear us apart.” Alistair gave me a surprised look at the determination in my face. “I do think though that we need to be more discreet around town, that would be the only visible change between us. I wasn’t thinking that Eamon might have people here that would report to him.”

“But what about when we get back to Redcliffe? What then?”

“We still have a bit of time to plan… I am sure we can come up with something.” I sighed. “Something that can make Eamon believe we are not together… but where we can still meet in secret?”

“I suppose. The whole of the group would need to be in on it though, which I don’t think will be a problem… except for Wynne. I can’t imagine her wanting to lie for us.”

“Perhaps I can talk about it with her on the way to the Dalish. I am sure I can reach some kind of agreement with her,” I said.

“I hope so.” Alistair’s expression was still grim.

“Just know this Ali. No matter what we have to do or say to each other while at Redcliffe… and beyond, I love you… and I always will.”

He nodded and kissed me gently. “I love you, too.”

Hoping he’d been reassured slightly about the future, I said, “Let’s go ahead, get dressed, and go get some breakfast. There is something else important that I must discuss with you.”

 

At a small corner table in the tavern, we finished up our meal. I pulled out the paper from the belt pouch on my robe. “I didn’t exactly tell you the truth yesterday, Ali.” I hesitated slightly and then said, “I was with Zevran. But before you go jumping to conclusions…” The look on his face had told me that was _exactly_ what he was doing. I quickly continued. “I was with him on behalf of Leliana. She was worried about him… saying that he’d been quiet and moody lately; that he wouldn’t talk with her about what was bothering him… So she asked for my help.”

Slightly angry, he asked, “Why the subterfuge between you and her then? Why lie to me?”

“I think it was because she thought you might get jealous if you knew I was spending the day with him.”

“Well, yes! What else would I think? You and I just got back together, for Maker’s sake!”

“Alistair, don’t. I love you… and only you. Zevran is just a friend. A friend to both of us. There is nothing for you to be jealous over. I promise.”

He seemed unsure still, so I continued. “Yesterday afternoon, before you and I had our evening out, a message was delivered to me.” I showed him the note. He read it and paled slightly. “Someone knows who we are, dear… and they know I was with Zevran yesterday as well. So we need to go and find him… and whoever sent this note. I want to get this resolved before any trouble happens in town.” He nodded. I put my hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “And since we will be with Zev, you will see for yourself that there is nothing between him and I but friendship. All right?”

“Very well. I will trust you.” He gave me a smile. “Afterall, what is love without trust?” He quickly finished off the rest of his kafija, then said, “I suppose I should head up to the room and get our gear then. Be back real soon.”

 

We left our inn shortly before the sun would reach its peak in the winter sky. I held Alistair’s hand loosely as we headed towards the rooming house. I really hoped that Leli had delivered our message and that Zevran would be there.

As we walked in silence, I saw someone run up to a building wall in front of us. He quickly nailed a poster up, then ran off. I dropped Alistair’s hand and walked over to the poster.

“What is it, love?”

I pulled the poster from the single nail holding it up and read, “Don't believe the lies! Friends of the Grey Wardens Assemble! The hidden pearl holds the key to resistance. The griffons will rise again.” I turned to Ali and asked, “What do you make of this?”

He glanced at it, then said, “I’m not sure. It could be legitimate. We know we have more allies than enemies now… if the Revered Mother’s sermon was anything to go by.” He looked at it again. “The hidden pearl holds the key… I wonder what that is supposed to mean?”

“Once we get to the rooming house, we could ask Zev or Leliana. They seem to know stuff that is happening around town.”

He nodded. I folded up the poster and stuffed it into the pouch on my belt.

Soon we were at the rooming house. Fortunately, Zevran was there. I went up to him and told him of the note I’d received yesterday.

He also paled at the news. Then he glanced at the sky. “High sun, you say? Come then, we’ve not much time. I know this tavern and it is not far, but we should still hurry.”

“Lead the way, then,” I replied.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 36 Another Harry Potter reference? Why the heck not? LOL!!
> 
> 37 Players know that you actually meet this quest giver in the Gnawed Noble, but again, I wanted to expand on the size of Denerim, so I created another new pub to meet them at!


	34. Denerim (part 4) - Bandits, Blood Mages, and Crows - Oh my!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylara and the gang suddenly find themselves very busy in helping the citizens of Denerim!

We walked into a seedy looking tavern. Most of the patrons glared at the three of us as we headed deeper inside, others looked away guiltily. One man rubbed a hook, instead of a hand, across his neck in a threatening gesture. I swallowed, nervous. “Zev,” I whispered. “You know who sent the note?”

“I have a suspicion, my friend.” He stopped by a door that had a small black bird painted on the upper corner of the door frame and knocked in a strange rhythmic pattern.

From inside, we heard, “Enter.”

The three of us walked into the small room. To my surprise, I immediately recognized the man in front of us.

“Ah, Wardens. You are here about the note? Maybe we have some things we can talk about.”

Point blank, I asked, “How did you know we are Grey Wardens?”

“Word gets around this city… But we have had our eye on you both for some time now.”

“We? Who are you really then, Master Trader Ignacio?”

Alistair stared at me. “You know him, Kylara?”

Zevran frowned. “He’s with The Crows.”

 _The Crows! Then that was no_ _ordinary bird_ _on the door!_ “What?! Are you here to kill us then?” I asked fearfully.

“No. I am here to talk… business with you both.”

“Just see the conversation stays civil,” Zevran said. “If this is a trap…”

“Zevran, you are Taliesen's responsibility. He, or other Crows, will try to kill you, but in my eyes, you're already dead. So you are of no notice. But the Wardens here, they are of great interest to me.”

“But you were hired to kill us,” Alistair said.

“I can't stress enough that **I** wasn't hired to do anything. An associate was, and he failed – and failed badly.”

Zevran scoffed. “I’d like to have seen you do any better.”

“Do you take me for a fool? That's a contract I’d never have taken!” Ignacio suddenly seemed embarrassed at what he’d just shouted. He cleared his throat and spoke calmly again. “A client can always hire more help... if the job isn't done the first time. But I’m hoping we can make sure that doesn't happen any further.”

“Zevran, is this true?” I asked weakly.

He nodded. “I’ve only heard of the one time that the entire House of Crows was hired for a job. A princely sum changed hands and an entire noble family died. Not one soul survived. But… Ignacio has the right of it. Generally, it is one master, one job.”

“So whoever wants us dead has hired someone else in place of Zevran?”

“You would be correct.”

“And if we work with you…”

“I will help you.”

Alistair pulled me aside and whispered, “Can you really trust him? He’s one of _them_! You know… a Crow!”

“What have we got to lose?” I whispered back. “If we help him, maybe he can stop whoever is out to kill us.”

“All right, love. If you think this is best, I’ll trust you.”

I turned back to face Ignacio. “Make it quick. I’m listening.”

“Ferelden is a busy place. Blight, civil war, other mayhem. Lots of people not getting along. Sometimes they **really** don't get along. Maybe… they want to do something about it. The people that handle that sort of thing… can get really busy.”

“So, you’re hiring help?”

“It takes time to do a good job – pride in your work and all – but customers have expectations. Not many people to turn to if you’re short-staffed in some lines of work. So someone that has crossed our path and lived… Well, maybe they could help out. Make some coin. Everyone wins.”

Still skeptical, I asked, “How does this work, then?”

“I hand you a scroll. You read it, you learn about someone interesting. If you find out something happens to him, something unfortunate, then if we talk again I give you money for ‘letting me know’. You don’t like what's on the scroll, don’t do anything. Maybe they have an ‘accident’ and someone else tells me all about it.”

I thought about it, then said, “If I do this for you, I want no more Crows after me or Alistair from this moment on.”

“That I cannot do. One master has a contract on you both. But… If you help us out, maybe if that Master asks for help, he’ll just get silence, yes?”

I frowned. “Why all the innuendo? We both know what this is about.”

“You can never be too careful. Can you blame someone for being circumspect?”

“You’re a cautious little weasel, Ignacio. What’s your angle? If you're playing us false…”

Ignacio waved a dismissive hand at Zevran, “My dance is not for you. I need to be real… honest sometimes. And I can say I haven’t asked anyone to do **anything**. I’ve just given someone the opportunity to have something interesting to read.”

“You think that will save your hide when they nail it to a wall?”

“You're already dead in my eyes, whoreson,” Ignacio replied darkly. “Take care of that I don't ‘learn’ otherwise.”

“Fine. Give me the scroll.”

“There you go.” He handed me a wax-sealed scroll. “Makes for fine reading. If that is all, then luck be to you.”

 

We quickly left the Crimson Wing. Once we were far enough away, I broke open the seal and read the scroll. It told me of a man named Paedan, who was running some kind of scam from a back room at a place called “The Pearl”. People who have gone to see him have disappeared and were presumed to have been killed by him. The scroll made it clear that Paedan was wanted dead.

“The Pearl?” I murmured.

“Ah, yes,” Zevran gave me a smile. “It’s a brothel on the eastern edge of town, near the wharf.”

“Wait a second…” I pulled out the folded poster from my belt pouch. “It says here, ‘the hidden pearl holds the key to resistance’. Do you think they mean this… brothel?”

Zev looked over the poster. “Could be. If not, that is an odd coincidence.”

“So what do they sell at a brothel?” Alistair asked, completely nonchalant. “Do they sell broth?”

Zev eyes bugged out and he looked as though he were about burst out laughing. I nudged him hard in the ribs.

“Ah… you don’t know?” I asked quietly to Alistair. To myself, I thought, _and here I thought_ _ **I**_ _lived a sheltered life!_ I whispered into his ear what a brothel really was… only to see Alistair’s face go beet red.

“Oh,” was all he could think to say. He cleared his throat and mumbled, “I had no idea that women… did that.”

“And men, too,” Zevran piped up. “Come now, friend Alistair. We should go on and head down there. It will be an eye-opening experience for you! Get rid of that Chantry boy innocence of yours!”

I smirked, “Zev, dear… I’ve already taken care of that.”

He laughed out loud. “That you certainly have, lovely Kylara. Many, many times, from what I hear.”

“Heeeyyy!” Alistair complained. “I still here, you know!”

“Let’s head down there. See if this scroll, this poster, and this Paedan are indeed connected,” I said.

“What about the… uh…” Alistair fumbled, turning scarlet again.

“Just keep your eyes on me, okay Ali?”

He gave a genuine smile. “Well, **that** I can definitely do!”

 

Alistair and I walked hand in hand back into the busy market square, Zevran trailing behind us. Alistair whispered something in my ear, making me laugh. We were so involved with each other, we almost ran into a group of soldiers.

Our looks of surprise were apparently misunderstood by the captain of the guard at first. We heard him sigh as he said, “Are you here to report **another** crime?” he shook his head. “I swear, we should just cordon off this entire damned dist- ” He stopped and stared at Alistair and me for a moment, then said. “Oh, you two are the Grey Wardens. I’d heard rumors you both were in Denerim. You both ought to be more careful wandering around town though. The teryn has been in quite the tizzy since he saw you both at the Chantry on Satinalia.”

“Um… are we in trouble?” Alistair asked nervously.

“From me? No. You’d best thank the Maker it was me you ran into, instead of someone who gives a damn.”

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Name’s Devon Kylon. That’d be Sergeant Kylon to you both. I’m one of the senior guardsmen here.”

“Does Loghain… I mean, the teryn want us arrested? Other than what he blames us for already – which we didn’t do – we’ve done nothing wrong here in town…”

“Oh, you bet your sweet asses he wants you arrested… but he really can’t enforce it.” Sergeant Kylon said with a smirk.

“Really?” Alistair was surprised. “Why?”

“While he does have his supporters, there have been too many people spreading the word about all the good you two have been doing. If he tried to do anything now, he’d likely have a riot on his hands… and he can’t afford that. Not with everything unraveling around him.”

“Unraveling?” I tried to keep my voice neutral, but a bit of glee snuck in.

“Oh sure,” the sergeant replied. “He comes back from Ostagar, claiming your order as traitors and saying there is no Blight… that you killed King Cailan… blah blah blah. But every day more and more refugees keep flooding into the city. We guards keep hearing that more darkspawn are creeping up all over the Bannorn… some people even claiming they’ve seen the archdemon! More than half the banns and arls are against his regency claim, yet they can’t do anything right now. Civil war is the last thing we need! There is already so much chaos going on.

“Don’t worry, even if I believed the ‘official’ story of what happened at Ostagar, I’m no fool. If I asked _my_ men to try and apprehend you, they’d all run and cry big, sobby tears in their courtesans’ bosoms and leave me all alone to get skewered.” He lowered his voice slightly. “Just don’t disturb the peace here in the Market and that’s good enough for me.”

“Is the lower market really that bad?” I asked.

“It isn’t deemed important enough by the captain of the guard… even less with Arl Howe in charge. So, when I finally get the new men I requested, I get the delightful surprise of discovering that they are Lord Such-and-Such’s illegitimate, untrained, moronic whelps. But they keep sending me more and more of them! It’s decent pay, no expectations, a uniform. So all I’ve got are a legion of bastards to protect the market from pickpockets, stabbings, and what-not… and Arl Howe’s specially picked me are the worst of the lot.”

“How are they worse?”

“With the bastards, I just have to worry about dicing, the odd bit of drool, or yelling at them too loudly and hurting their poor feelings… and then getting chewed out by their noble fathers. But I swear the arl’s men are more criminal than the miscreants we occasionally arrest. Some of them **are** the criminals we have to arrest!”

“One of the guards at the gate mention you,” Alistair said quietly. “He suggested we speak with you. Is there anything we can do to help?”

“You’re serious?” Sergeant Kylon seemed surprised. “You want to help?”

I nodded. “Yes. That is what we do.”

“Well, besides fighting darkspawn,” Alistair grinned.

“I’d be a fool to turn you down then. So, there is a very popular establishment down by the docks. It’s called The Pearl. We’ve had trouble with some mercenaries there recently. If I sent the boys in my care in there and Maker forbid one of them gets hurt… Then I have to go to their noble fathers and try to explain that being a guard is actually dangerous work! If you’d be willing to beat down any of the mercenaries that are out of line to send them a message, I’d be grateful. Now please, bear in mind I said ‘beat down’… not kill. Not on fire, or exploded, or any other grisly death you may think they deserve! Just leave them breathing and I’ll be happy.”

 

We agreed. So now we had another reason to head to The Pearl. This time, we let Zevran lead the way.

“It does seem rather odd, don’t you think,” Alistair said to me as we walked, “that after all the calm, down-time we’ve had together in town… You get this strange message delivered, we have a run in with more Crows, and now we are on our way to a… brothel… to help not only the senior guardsman, but also The Crows too?”

“Well, while I was – and still am – enjoying our time together,” I said with a huge grin, “it was getting a bit dull just hanging out at the Gnawed Noble all the time. Now we are actually getting some action in town!”

“I wonder if you might regret that last statement,” Alistair said wryly.

A few moments later, Zevran stopped. “Here we are, my friends. The Pearl.”

 

Once inside, the heavy perfumed air hit us like a warhammer.

“Whew!” Alistair muttered. “Do all brothels smell like this?”

Zev grinned. “You get used to is soon enough, my friend. I grew up in a place like this. They say you can never go home again, but for ten silvers an hour, you can get pretty close!” He laughed.

“Come on, now. Let’s see if we can track down this… Paedan. He’s probably holed up in one of the rooms. Once he’s dealt with, we’ll see what Sergeant Kylon needed help with.”

As it turned out, the reverse happened. A bunch of burly, ugly men were hounding several frightened-looking, scantily clad women. I ran towards the kerfuffle. “Stop this right now! Leave those women alone!”

The leader of the men turned around and glared at me. “Turn around and walk away! This party is for White Falcon members only!” Then his eyebrows suddenly went up, and his anger turned into an ugly leer. “Unless… You want to join in, eh? You ain’t bad looking. Too many clothes on yeh, but still…” He reached out to touch my breasts.

Angrily, I slapped his hand away. “Time to close up shop here… before there is **real** trouble!”

“What are you, some kind of guard? You’re telling us what we can and can’t do here?! These women have been bought and paid for, and we ain’t leavin’ until we’ve had our fun!”

I saw a few of the women shaking their heads at me frantically. Righteous anger filled me. Behind me, I heard Alistair draw his sword and Zev, his daggers. “That’s **exactly** what we are telling you to do. Now go!”

Fear suddenly filled the man’s eyes. “You lot are no common guard!” He turned around and shouted, “Men, let’s clear out! We don’t want to get on Howe or Loghain’s bad side!” They all quickly left after that.

A fancily dressed woman came up to us. “Thank you from driving that lot off! They may have paid, but no one abuses my girls!” She gave a smile. “Tell Kylon he has my thanks.”

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Name’s Sanga. I run the place.” She looked us over and her smile grew wider. “So… now that that nasty business has been dealt with, what can I get for you? Men? Women? Or perhaps… both?”

I saw Alistair’s face go red again. “Sorry, but no thank you,” I politely replied. “However, do you happen to know someone by the name of Paedan?”

“Shh!” Sanga quickly said. Then she leaned in closer. “He’s in the back room over there… He came in, saying he wanted to find any that were loyal to the Grey Wardens, but the people who’ve gone in there to speak with him… They haven’t come out!” She glanced around, making sure she hadn’t been heard. “Truth is, I don’t think he is who he says he is. If you’re going in there… I’d be right careful, I would!”

I nodded. Alistair, Zevran, and I all then headed down the hall in the direction Sanga had indicated. The first door I stopped at was obviously not the right one, as the only sounds coming from it were grunts, groans, and a squeaking bed. I backed away, trying to stifle a laugh, and headed to the next door. It was quiet, so I knocked.

From within the room, I heard a muffled, “Password?”

I quickly replayed the words from the poster in my head, then said, “The griffons will rise again?”

I heard the door unlock. I opened it and the three of us stepped in, weapons drawn.

As we closed the door behind us, a lean man with filthy brown hair and more dirt on his face than an afternoon shadow spoke quietly, “Ahh… more Grey Warden supporters, yes?”

“You must be Paedan,” I gave a half smile.

“W-who told you that?” he asked, clearly nervous.

“Word gets around this city,” I said, echoing Ignacio’s earlier words.

A small elf woman, standing behind Paedan, suddenly pulled on his arm. “Those two aren’t just Warden supporters,” she said, pointing at Alistair and me. “They **are** the Grey Wardens!! The ones Arl Howe has been looking for!”

His earlier fear now turned into cocky arrogance. “My trap landed the **real** Grey Wardens? Well, well, now. I gotta be the luckiest bastard alive! I’ll give you one chance to surrender.”

I sighed. “And I suppose if I told you that Loghain framed us, you wouldn’t care… Am I right?”

“Nope. Don’t give a damn. We are Howe’s elite and he has put a huge bounty on you both… dead or alive. Though, judgin’ by your weapons, an’ the hateful glares you all are giving me, I guessin’ taking you dead will be my smarter option.”

“You can try… but I don’t think that is going to happen,” I said grimly. Then I cast a spell of silence for the room.

Despite being outnumbered, Alistair, Zevran, and I quickly took down Howe’s so-called elite, until only Paedan was left. He was now on his knees, Zev behind him. A wickedly sharp dagger was up against Paedan’s greasy neck.

“A-all right! I surrender! Don’t kill me! Please!” he cried out.

“Not good enough,” Alistair growled. “Why does Arl Howe want us dead?”

“Because you are a threat to King Loghain! Howe will do anything to help keep Loghain on the throne!”

“Why?” I asked, venom in my voice. “Because they are both murdering sons of bitches?”

“Wh-what are you going on about?” Paedan wheezed as Zev tightened his grip.

“Loghain pulled his troops at Ostagar. Because of this, King Cailan was killed, as were the thousands of troops down there to battle the darkspawn! By the void, we almost died there too!” I screamed. Alistair placed a hand on my shoulder. His strength brought me some comfort. Voice lowered, but no less furious, “As for Howe, he murdered Teryn Cousland and his entire family, save for Fergus, who was at Ostagar… but since no one has seen or heard from Fergus, you might as well add him to the body count!” I poked Paedan in the chest with my staff. He winced in pain. “All of this for what? Power? Control? How does that justify the deaths of thousands of innocents? And how many more will die if the darkspawn invade?!”

A steely glint came to Paedan’s eyes. “Howe says you all are crazy! That there is no Blight! No darkspawn! That Cailan made it all up to make himself look good! The darkspawn were all wiped out during the last Blight four hundred years ago!”

“All wiped out you say? Then how about this!” I placed my hand on Paedan’s forehead. “Chì thu a-nis na chunnaic mi!” <You can see now what I saw!> From my own memories, I drew upon all I had seen in my battles with the darkspawn at the Tower of Ishal, passing through Lothering – where I had almost died protecting my friends, the Deep Roads, the horrors of the Broodmother, and lastly, the archdemon itself.

Suddenly the connection was broken, bringing me back to myself. “Maker’s Breath!” I heard Alistair say. “What did you just do?”

“I am so sick and tired of being called a liar! That we are frauds! That the darkspawn threat isn’t real! So I made him see what I have seen!” Then I looked down at Paedan. The reason the connection had been broken was that he had backed away from me, complete and utter horror on his face.

His back up against the wall, his hand out as if to ward me off, Paedan stuttered, “P-please! I’m sorry! I was just tryin’ to do a job!”

“So are we,” I said angrily. “And it’s people like you, Howe, and Loghain that are making it exponentially more difficult!”

“You’re gonna kill me then?”

“A little pissant like you isn’t worth the fuss,” I sneered. “But know that you will likely rot in the void for all the people you killed!” I turned to my companions. “Let’s go.”

Alistair and I were at the door when I suddenly heard a ‘thunk!’ and then the clatter of metal on stone.

We quickly turned around and saw Zevran pulling his dagger out of Paedan’s chest, who was now dead.

“Wha - ” Alistair exclaimed. “Why did you do that, Zevran?!”

I moved closer to the corpse as Zev was cleaning the blood off his dagger. “This is why, love.” I toed a small knife away from Paedan’s limp hand. “Slimy bastard was about to throw this at us.”

“Even after you were going to let him live? Why?”

“Seems the more we try and trust others, the more we get betrayed. I’m afraid that the closer we get to the end, the higher our body will become.” I sighed bitterly. “Let’s get out of here. I need a drink.”

 

Back in the main room of The Pearl, I briefly stopped and told Sanga what had happened; that she may want to get Sergeant Kylon to take care of the bodies.

She nodded grimly. “S’pose I should have expected as much. Thanks.”

Zev went to go and get us some drinks, so we sat down at a table in the corner to wait. Nearby I saw an exotic looking woman playing cards with three men. She had shoulder-length dark hair, tied under a blue bandana. Her skin was a dark tan and her breasts were surprisingly large. I blushed furiously when I realized I was staring at her chest. To my shock, the woman caught me looking at her, her caramel eyes twinkling for a moment before she went back to her game.

I couldn’t tell what they were playing, but I could see the men getting more agitated by the minute.

Zevran came back up, drinks in hand. “Oho!” he said with a grin, realizing what I was looking at. “Things are about to get interesting around here!”

“And they weren’t interesting before?” Alistair muttered as he took a big drink from his mug of ale. However, he turned to watch as well.

Suddenly one of the men upended the table that the card game had been happening on. “Stop playing games, Isabela! We want our gold back!”

“I think you forget who you are speaking to.” ‘Isabela’ coldly replied. “I will give you a chance to leave quietly.”

“You brazen hussy! Someone needs to put you in your place!” another man shouted.

Weapons were suddenly drawn… Isabela dual-wielding daggers, much like Zevran did. Alistair was about to get up to assist, but Zevran stopped him.

“Trust me, she can handle it,” he whispered.

The fight was short lived. Isabela quickly got the upper hand and then all three men ran for it.

“She’s too good!”

“Be off with you now and be glad I only took from you your gold!” She chuckled. “Heh. Fools…” Then Isabela noticed us, watching her. She beckoned all of us closer.

“And look who we have here! Come to apologize for leaving me bereft of my lord husband and then vanishing without a trace?”

“You know it was just business, Isabela.” Zev took her hand and kissed it. “Business that turned out well for you, I see. You inherited the ship I take it?”

“True. I never did like the greasy bastard. And the Siren treats me far better than she ever did him.”

“Zevran, you two know each other?” I asked.

“Indeed.” He turned to us to make the introduction. “This is Isabela, queen of the Eastern Seas and the sharpest blade in Llomerryn.” Facing Isabela again, he then said, “And Isabela, my dear, you will no doubt be amused to discover that I’m traveling with the Grey Wardens.”

“Grey Wardens? Charmed.” She shook my hand, then Alistair’s.

“Llomerryn? Where is that?” I asked.

Isabela smiled. “It is a port city on an island in southern Rivain. It is where I am from, originally, and where my ship calls its home port. I am in Denerim at the moment to let my men fill up on supplies and other ‘pleasures’,” she purred out the last word in such a fashion, that it made me blush again.

I quickly recovered, smiled, and then said, “Your fighting skills are impressive.”

“You saw that little drama?” She laughed merrily. “None of these poor brutes has ever proven a match for me. They are too clumsy and predictable. I fight with quickness and wit, rather than with brute force and strength. I call myself a duelist because I honed my skills and duels with warriors encountered over the years.”

“Would you be willing to pass on some of those skills to me?”

Alistair stared at me. “But, love…”

He didn’t need to finish. Isabela cut in. “You? An unusual request coming from a fearsome slayer of darkspawn. I am flattered that you wish to learn for me, sweet thing.” Her hand came up and gently caressed my face. “However you are a mage, not a rogue, and you don't deal with blades. But…” She stared at me and her pink tongue trailed across her lips. “I might be willing to pass on some of the skills that you could teach to someone else in your party. It does take years of practice to achieve true mastery of the style, but I can teach you the basics.” I could see interest in her eyes. _Does she like women the same way Leliana does?_ “I do, however, wish to get to know my potential student better, so we should call for a drink and you will honor me with a game of Wicked Grace.”

 _Oh, I stink at that game!_ I then glanced at Alistair and then back at Isabela. _She is quite pretty,_ I thought. _I wonder if…_ Suddenly, the room felt too hot. _Would_ _Ali_ _possibly agree?_ I cleared my throat lightly. “Are there no other ways for us to get to know each other?”

Intrigued, Isabela gave me a sexy smile, “Do you have… something else in mind?”

Alistair pulled me aside. “Um… May I ask what you are doing?”

I gave him a sultry smile. “Just… follow my lead, Ali.” Turing back to Isabela, I touched her arm gently and said, “We could go someplace private and I could... show you.”

“Ooh, and now you've piqued my interest. It would surely be rude of me to decline such a... delicious offer.”

Alistair’s eyes bugged out for a moment. “Are you suggesting… with her? I mean… Wow! Here I am, awake and everything.”

“Do you object, love?”

“Perhaps your friend is feeling left out? There’s always room for one more… Yes?”

“Um… boundaries, hello? Are you really sure you want to… You know…”

Standing in front of him, I whispered in his ear I said, “This could be interesting… and fun… for the both of us.” I ran my hand down his chest and then gently cupped his growing erection… which thankfully for him the front of his armor hid from view.

He groaned. “Interesting, you say. Like it’s a good book, or maybe a delightful pastry…”

“Well?” Isabela grinned. “What’s it to be?”

Cheeks red, Alistair finally quietly replied. “I guess I’ll say it. I’m a weak, weak man. I suppose I’ll have to play along.”

“And what about you, Zev? Want to join in? For old times sake?”

Zevran laughed. “Ah, no, dear heart. I think you’re going to have your hands full as it is with these two. Perhaps another time, yes?”

“I will hold you to that, Zevran. As for you two… come, my ship is down by the docks. I’m sure you will find my cabins quite… comfortable.” **3** **8**

 

The sun was slowly going down when the three of us made our way back towards The Pearl.

“My dear,” Isabela cooed, “you wouldn’t consider… leaving Alistair with me, would you? Or perhaps letting me borrow him for a week every summer? I’m sure we could work out a deal.”

“Would you lend me your ship?” I asked.

“No.” She laughed heartily. “Fair point.”

“Not that the idea of being ‘borrowed’ isn’t _terribly_ fascinating,” Alistair said with a grin, “but let’s not forget the darkspawn. There may not be a week every summer, or any summer…”

“Darkspawn?! Is that the only thing you Grey Wardens think about these days? What about the good old obsessions? Breasts, firm buttocks, hot sex…” **3** **9**

“Mmm… hot sex…”

I smirked at Alistair. “Down, boy.”

Isabela laughed again. “Now, wasn't there something else you wanted from me? A lesson, perhaps?”

“Yes, please. Never hurts to learn something new.”

“Indeed. Come, let’s head back here. We will need some space for this…”

 

On our way back towards the Gnawed Noble, Alistair briefly pulled me aside. “So… Care to explain what got into you back there?”

“Got… into me?” I flirted innocently. I then pulled him closer. “Well, you did, for starters…”

Alistair groaned. “You know what I mean. You, me, and Isabela?” He glanced around nervously, making sure no one was looking at us. Cheeks pink, he then quietly said, “Not that it wasn’t… enjoyable… but…”

“Oh, you are wondering if that will happen again?” He nodded quickly and I gave a gentle smile. “No, love. I think it was just a one-time, momentarily curious, thing. There was just something about her…”

“She was quite pretty, I’ll agree,” he murmured. “But I much prefer _you_ all to myself.” He gave me a gentle kiss. “Call me selfish, but I really don’t want to share you… even with another woman.”

“Don’t worry, Ali. I’m sure we’ll never see her again.”

He put his arm around me and gave me a quick hug. “You’re probably right.”

Just then, someone called out to us. We looked over to see Sergeant Kylon and a few of his soldiers heading in our direction. “Hey, I was hoping I would run into you both. I heard about what happened at The Pearl.” He gestured for his soldiers to stop and then he came closer to us. “We took care of Paedan and his crew. Don’t worry, I’m fairly certain Howe won’t admit any connection to them. As for the other mercenaries… these ‘White Falcons’, I heard you got them to leave without any fuss. The Pearl’s workers were all- ”

A new voice suddenly interrupted. “Nobody gives orders to my men but  **me**! A little lesson in respect is in order!”

“Well, so much for a peaceful resolution,” Sergeant Kylon muttered. “Don’t bother sparing these louts. Things are about to get messy.”

Alistair and I, along with Kylon and his men, drew weapons as the White Falcons all charged at us. However, despite these men calling themselves mercenaries, they all went down very quickly… my spells helped to make short work of them.

“Wow…” Sergeant Kylon gave a low whistle. “And people actually _voluntarily_ attack you both? Are they really that stupid?” He sighed and gestured for his men to begin the clean-up. “I thank you for helping us, Wardens. Perhaps I might have something else for you to assist with in the future. If you’re interested, come and find me.”

 

The next few weeks were quiet. Wade had finished the drake scale armor, but he was not happy with his results, even though I thought it looked wonderful. I had Zevran give him the rest of our drake scales for him to experiment with, but when we handed over the High Dragon scale, Wade squeed with absolute glee, much to Herren’s displeasure. We were banned from the store… again.

Gorim also managed to get a nice set of plate armor from Orzammar for Oghren. I gave it to him one afternoon and he thanked me. I gave the Legion of the Dead armor back to Gorim to see if he’d be able to return it to its proper place in the Deep Roads. He said he should be able to get that done.

We hung out with Leliana, Zev, and Wynne on a few other occasions. However, Morrigan was strangely absent. No one had seen her for a few days, but I was sure she’d turn up again soon.

I was beginning to think that our brief adventure with Ignacio was just a one-time event, but the next day, another message was delivered to us.

 

_Have some more work for you. Please meet me tomorrow, same time, same place._

 

As before, Zevran accompanied us. We walked into the small room where Ignacio was waiting.

“A little bird told me one of Loghain’s friends had an _accident_. How terribly unfortunate.” He then handed me another wax-sealed scroll. “Please, if anything interesting happens, feel free to… let me know.” He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

I thought to ask Ignacio what was really going on here, but Zevran just shook his head. “You won’t get anything more now. Let us just leave, my friend.”

 

Back at the Merry Mabari, the three of us sat down in a booth. I opened the scroll.

“I hope we’re doing the right thing here, love,” Alistair softly said. “I am not comfortable just outright killing people.”

“Paedan was killing Grey Warden supporters under Howe’s instructions,” I replied as I skimmed through the scroll. “He was going to kill us, for Maker’s sake!”

“His death I can sort of justify… but what of these others? What do we really know about them?”

“I don’t know, Ali. This scroll is not very informative. It just says there is a group of warriors going by the name of ‘Word of Kadan-Fe’ heading to Denerim. They were last seen about a day’s ride away.”

“Mercenaries again?” Zevran looked thoughtful. “Perhaps they were hired by Howe again… or even Loghain himself, to come after you both?”

“Kadan-Fe?” Alistair drummed his fingers on the table. “Doesn’t Sten call you kadan sometimes, love? Maybe these are Qunari mercenaries?”

“If that is the case, perhaps we should ask Sten to come along with us this time?” Zevran postulated.

“That sounds like a good idea…” I said. “But I don’t want him knowing too much about this mission.”

Alistair and Zevran both nodded in agreement.

 

The next morning, Sten joined us as we all rode out on our horses. He had not been happy upon hearing the news of the Kadan-Fe.

“Tal-Vashoth,” he muttered.

“What does that mean?” Alistair asked. At Sten’s glower, he immediately stammered, “Only if you want to tell us, that is…”

Sten sighed. “Tal-Vashoth are those that reject the teachings of the Qun. They leave us and try to ‘create their own path’ instead of doing what they were born to do. Most do become soldiers of fortune because the only thing they know how to do is fight.”

“Why would they want to leave?” Alistair asked.

“Some Qunari who have ambition above their station come to resent their place in the society, and thus the Qun. But that is not the Qunari way. So if we are able to catch them…”

“They are executed?”

“No!” Sten bristled, causing Alistair to move his horse slightly away from him. “That is the **last** resort. If we find them, I will try to get them to surrender and go back home for re-education by the Ben-Hassrath. Under the Qun, mercenaries are viewed as even worse than bandits, because they are essentially selling the remains of their soul and honor for coin.”

“So a Ben-Hassrath is like a teacher?” I asked.

In a gentler tone, Sten answered, “They are our priests, kadan. At one point in my life, I was almost considered for it, due to my hornless stature. Most of Qunari that become Ben-Hassrath are hornless. We consider a lack of horns to be a privilege, rather than a defect because we are so rare. However, the Arishok found me to be a better fit with the Antaam, and thus I am a Sten of the Beresaad.”

“So… Sten isn’t your name, then.” Alistair said hesitantly. “Do you have a real name?”

“Sten is who I am, who I was meant to be. That is all you need to know.”

While Alistair and Sten rode in silence ahead, I quietly hung back with Zevran.

“Zev?”

“Yes?”

“May I ask about what happened on that last mission now?”

“Why must you know?” His voice was surprisingly harsh-sounding.

“I… I just think… I mean from the sound of it… It just seems like you need to talk about it?”

“No.”

“But…”

“I do not want to talk about it. Please just drop the subject.” He nudged his horse and rode ahead, leaving me as the last person in our little procession.

_Sorry, Leliana… Guess I’m not such a good job. Hopefully, I can get him to open up about it someday._

 

About fifteen minutes later, we saw a grouping of tents off the side of the road. Several Qunari were packing up their gear.

“Let me talk to them first,” Sten said. He rode into the clearing where they were camped and then dismounted. We came into the clearing as well but stayed on our horses for the moment.

Sten spoke loud and clear in his native tongue. The only words I recognized, of course, were the ones we had heard from him before… “Sten”, “Beresaad”, “Tal-Vashoth”, “Qun”, and “Ben-Hassrath”. From the rest of it, I was gathering that he was asking them to surrender and go back home.

Harsh laughter came from the Kadan-Fe and they shouted back at Sten.

“What did they say?” I asked quietly.

“They are ‘thanking’ me for bringing their prey to them.” Sten frowned. “You did not tell me they were after you and Alistair. They will not give up until they have your heads.”

Upon hearing that, we quickly dismounted and drew our weapons. The Kadan-Fe did the same. I quickly cast a controlled ring of fire around them.

“Bas saarebas!” One of them shouted and pointed at me. _Well… I knew what_ _ **that**_ _word meant._ I sighed.

Sten and Alistair both quickly charged the front group of the Kadan-Fe. I let the fire spell drop just as they approached them. Swords and shield clashed against warhammers, pikes, and massive two-handed axes. I concentrated on using spells to freeze or slow the Kadan-Fe down, as I had to give an advantage to Sten and Alistair since the mercenaries outnumbered them three to one.

Zevran meanwhile, had gone into stealth and had gotten behind the mercenaries. A few quick slashes with his poisoned daggers and one of the Kadan-Fe in the back went down. Another quickly followed as Zev sliced through the hamstring muscles.

Several more minutes passed. The fight was tough, but eventually, all the mercenaries were dead. At a stream nearby, Alistair and Sten removed some of their armor to get cleaned up. Zev, surprisingly, had managed to get no blood on him.

After cleaning up, Alistair grabbed a shield off of one of the dead Kadan-Fe. “Gwaren,” he spat and threw the shield down. “I wish we could take this back as evidence, but it’d all be hearsay since the bodies are out here.”

“Gwaren, that is Loghain’s teyrnir, isn’t it?” I asked.

Alistair just nodded.

“Shit…” I muttered.

“If it wasn’t obvious already…” Alistair shook his head and sighed. “C’mon, let’s just get back to Denerim. It’s supposed to snow again later.”

 

 

Thankfully it was just a minor storm. The snow melted quickly and things were pretty much back to normal business in Denerim within two days.

It was approaching the month of Haring, where the winter weather would move further north. _Hopefully, we should be able to get back on our own mission soon_ , I thought. _I will be very happy for warmer temperatures!_

We ended up assisting Sergeant Kylon again. This time a rowdy group calling themselves the Crimson Oars had decided to make the Gnawed Noble their “playground”, and the nobles staying at the inn didn’t like it one bit. Even Alistair and I had been annoyed by their presence. We had been sitting on a nearby sofa by the fireplace, cuddling and just enjoying being with each other, when one of the Oars tripped on a rug near us and ended up spilling his ale all over me.

Peitr and his wife, Edwina came over and apologized, handing me a bunch of clean rags to try and dry myself off with.

“I’ve been tryin’ to get them to stay in the annex over there,” Peitr muttered. “They are goin’ to drive away all my other customers!”

It was that very next day that Sergeant Kylon had come to us. We agreed that something needed to be done.

Alistair thought it might be a bad idea waving his sword and shield around indoors, so he had me bring just my staff down with me. We figured we’d try the diplomatic approach first. I walked up to the man who seemed to be leading the motley bunch.

“What’re lookin’ at? We be the Crimson Oars! We be pirates from all over t’world!”

Politely, I said, “I am sorry, but there have been complaints about you and your men.”

“Complaints?!” the leader scoffed. “We have good coin! An’ we be breakin’ none of yer laws! I spit on yer complaints!”

“You see?” Edwina almost shouted at the head Oar, “This is why we called the guards on you! You all are causing a ruckus! You glare at our patrons! You’re loud, you’re rude… and you smell! This is a high-end establishment!”

“We happen to like t’ale better here… t’wine too! Less vomit on t’floor! So long as we’re payin’… yer servin’!” The Oar leader laughed loudly.

I sighed. _Why did I think this would be easy?!_ Then a thought came to me and I grinned.

Alistair caught it and smiled back. “Are you thinking what I think you are, love?” he whispered. “Isabela?”

I gave a small nod. “If anyone could handle these idiots, it’d be her…” I whispered back to him. I then smiled coyly at the Oar leader. “Wouldn’t you prefer a bar with more women? ‘Friendly’ ones?”

He gave me a thoughtful look (to me he looked like he was in pain) and then said, “Yeh may have a point there, lassie! Oy! Edweena! You and yer women be too old… and be wearin’ t’many damned clothes! Am I right boys?!”

The other Oar men all did the typical pirate “Yaarr…” and “Aye!” I rolled my eyes.

Leader Oar shouted, “Righty-o, then boys! To the Pearl with us all! Let’s find us some willin’ wenches!” With that, they all left the Gnawed Noble. Peitr breathed a sigh of relief.

 

Sergeant Kylon gave us his thanks after we’d reported the somewhat peaceful departure of the Oars from the Gnawed Noble.

“I know Peitr appreciates that you got them to leave with little fuss… even if Edwina wanted a little skirmish.” He chuckled. “I keep telling her she’s working for the wrong tavern if she wants that.” As we turned to leave, the sergeant called us back for a moment. “By the way, if you’re looking for more ‘good deeds’ to do around town, the Chantry Board has some stuff tacked on it now.”

We thanked him and decided to head over there to see what was going on.

The main one that caught our attention was a sudden spike of robberies in a squalid area of town. Richer townsfolk were getting lured to these dark alleyways, whereupon gangs of thugs would them proceed to rob them blind.

Determined we would stop this, Ali and I headed to the rooming house to see who else was available.

Several minutes later, we were approaching the first alleyway, Leliana and Wynne with us.

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Kylara?” Wynne asked. “Shouldn’t we just leave this to the guards?”

“Sergeant Kylon already has his hands full just keeping general peace in the main Market District,” I replied. “Besides, this was tacked up on the Chantry Board.”

“Really? I wonder why? This Sergeant Kylon can’t be the only guard in Denerim…”

“He isn’t, but the rest of them are apparently under Arl Howe… who evidently doesn’t give a damn about the crime in Denerim. From what we’ve heard, **his** men seem to _cause_ most of the crime!”

Wynne shook her head. “That can’t be true…”

Alistair put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Wynne, but it is. Sergeant Kylon would have no reason to lie to us.”

“I too, have seen a lot of rather unsavory things in this town since we’ve been here, Wynne,” Leli softly said. “There is a corrupt heart beating in this city…”

Alistair sighed. “While the upcoming Landsmeet will help to address some of those issues, this whole situation won’t really be fixed until Ferelden has a true leader again.” He was quiet for a moment, then murmured, “A true King…”

I froze inside when I heard him. _He’s made his decision, then?_ I gripped my crystal in my fist. It was warm to my touch and I felt its magic pulse. _I know you must do what is right for Ferelden, my love… but where will this leave me?_

“Leave you?” Alistair asked. “What do you mean by that, Kylara?”

Leli looked at him strangely. “Um… Alistair? Kylara didn’t say anything.”

“But I… heard her.” He turned around and stared at me.

Still holding onto the crystal, I thought, _You… hear me? Right now?_

He gave a tiny, almost imperceptible nod of his head. I then gave a quick glance at Leli and Wynne, both who were waiting… apparently wondering what was going on between the two of us.

I quickly thought to him, _We have much to talk about tonight._ I saw him nod once, quickly. Then I slowly let go of the crystal, sliding my hand down my stomach, trying to look natural… but Leli’s perceptive gaze told me she’d noticed. _She’s going to have questions later, no doubt._

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, in my case), a group of the bandits we were after decided to show up. With Wynne healing, Leli, Alistair, and I made short work of them. It wasn’t long after that that the other alleyways had been cleared out by us as well.

Sadly, we found a dead Templar at the end of the last alley. However, something was different about his corpse. Strange runes were carved into his hands and his face.

“Blood magic!” Wynne muttered. “I know those runes. I saw them when Uldred attacked us!”

“So he wasn’t attacked by the bandits, then?” Alistair asked.

Wynne shook her head.

The rune on one of the Templar’s hands did look familiar to me… and then I realized that Jowan had carved that same symbol on his palm when attacking Greagoir and Irving back at the Circle Tower all those long months ago. I reached out to touch it.

“Kylara, I don’t think that is wise…” Wynne warned.

“I need to understand what happened here.” I gave a small smile to Alistair. “Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.” Then I closed my eyes and muttered, “Seall dhomh na thachair.” <Show me what happened.> I touched the rune.

 

Time seemed to stop, then go backwards. The sun went down in the east, then up in the west. The Templar was now standing in front of me (though he could not see me). He was surrounded my mages, rogues, and mercenaries.

Sword and shield out in front, the Templar yelled, “Stay away from me, y-you… abominations!”

“Oh… now, really,” a mage in black hooded robes spoke softly – yet there was malice in his voice. “That hurts my feelings, you know.”

“You’ll never take me alive, you filthy blood mages!”

“Really? Sounds to me like we have a willing… volunteer? Yes?” The hooded mage turned to the two closest mercenaries. “Hold him!”

A burly human and a horned Qunari grabbed the Templar, forcing him to drop his weapons. The held the man’s hands out in front of him.

“Wh-what are you doing?” the Templar cried out.

“Ah, you see… I was just planning on taking a _little_ of your blood… **but** then you said we’d never take you alive. So I’ll just take all of it!”

“That’s not what I meant!” the Templar shouted.

“Well, I am so _sorry_ for misunderstanding you!” The mage took out a wickedly sharp dagger and quickly carved the runes into the Templar’s palms, and then his face… grinning madly while the Templar screamed. The hooded mage then spoke a spell similar to what Jowan had used, but instead of the blood lashing out like a weapon, it turned on the Templar.

I watched in horror as the Templar’s own blood lifted him off of the ground and formed a vice around his neck, choking him. As he struggled, I cried, for I could do nothing to help. Then I noticed his belt pouch come loose. It fell to the ground. A small book fell out and skidded across the dirt path of the alley. It seemed as though none of the mages or mercenaries noticed; they were too enraptured watching the Templar die.

His body twitched in mid-air a few more times, then it fell to the ground, in the same position we found him in. The blood mage muttered another spell, this time making all of the Templar’s blood get sucked into his robe. It turned from black into the color of dried blood. I wanted to vomit.

“Come, we must prepare.” the lead mage said. He then turned and left the alley; his entire entourage following him.

 

Vision finished, I murmured the spell to bring me back. Alistair, Wynne, and Leli all had anxious looks on their faces.

“What happened?” Alistair asked.

I told them what I’d seen in the vision; saw their faces cringe in horror.

“The blood mage leader said they needed to prepare for a ritual, so they must have somewhere close by that they are using as a base,” I said. “We are going to find them and we are going to stop them.” I then glanced around the Templar’s dead body. “But first…”

“First what, Kylara? What are you looking for?”

Behind some empty barrels, I found the book that the Templar had dropped. “This,” I replied. “He dropped it. When they were… torturing him.” I flipped it open. Most of what was in there were just daily thoughts and prayers, but towards the back, there was a… request. I read it out loud to my friends.

“My name is Ser Friden and if you find this book, I have either been found and captured, or I am dead. I was helping my Brother track some maleficarum here in Denerim, near the Alienage, despite my superiors telling me I should not. Yesterday, my Brother went missing, so I set out to find him. However, as I write these words, I hear cruel laugher behind me. I know I am being followed. Please, stop them. I don’t know what they want, but I know it is evil.”

“But how will you find them?” Alistair asked. “Any trail they might have left is surely long gone by now.”

I saw a few droplets of dried blood on the Templar’s armor. “Don’t worry. I have a way.” I scraped some off with my fingernail.

“What are you doing, Kylara?” Wynne asked, concern on her face. “What spell are you casting?”

“Just a tracking spell.”

“Why do you need some of his… blood?”

“They took it. For what purpose, I don’t know… but this should help me find them.” I closed my eyes, focused on that small amount of dried blood under my fingernail and spoke. “Càite a bheil iad a-nis…” <Where are they now…>

In the shadows on approaching twilight, a bright glow of droplets appeared on the dirt alleyway. We all followed them eventually coming to what seemed to be a large warehouse. If it hadn’t been for the glowing trail leading me to the front door, it would have seemed just an empty-looking building.

“Are you thinking of doing this now?” Wynne asked. “It is getting dark.”

“No. I am pretty sure that whatever they are planning, they aren’t ready for it yet. We will get more people, if possible, and come back here tomorrow. Now that I know where it is, I can find my way back here,” I said. Just then, two large men walked out of the warehouse. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” I whispered with some urgency. “I don’t want them to suspect that they are being watched.”

 

As we headed back, I pulled Wynne aside. Leli could see that I wanted to talk with her in private, so she spoke into Alistair’s ear. He nodded.

“I’ll see you back at the Gnawed Noble, love, all right?”

I nodded. Leli also bade me farewell. “And I’ll speak to whoever might be at the rooming house about tomorrow.”

Again I nodded. After they had left, I turned to my old mentor. “Wynne, why did you think I was going to use blood magic today?” I tried to keep my voice neutral, but a little hurt crept in. “You should know me better than that.”

Wynne hesitated. She did look somewhat ashamed. “I… do know you are a strong woman, Kylara… and a very powerful mage. But even the smartest mages can… slip.”

“Wh-what are you saying to me, Wynne? You think I’d go down the so-called ‘easy road’ to gain more power?”

She looked me sternly, as she used to when I was taking healing lessons from her way back when. “I know you took that vile blood potion of Avernus’s. When we were trying to figure out what had happened to you after you collapsed. Morrigan had figured it out and told me… and then Alistair confirmed it as well. Why would you do something so foolish?! Especially when you knew he was a blood mage?! Do you even know what that potion has done, or still doing to you now?”

I suddenly felt like the small, frightened, girl I used to be all those years ago. “He s-said it would help me fight the darkspawn.”

“And you believed him? A madman who experimented on his own people?”

“But he was… is a Grey Warden!” I pleaded.

“No, what he is, is an abomination. He is two hundred years outside of his time. He dabbled with magics that are known to cause harm, and he consorted with demons!”

“And he is the only one who can save her life now…” a new voice suddenly spoke. Morrigan then stepped out of the shadows.

“Morrigan!” I exclaimed. “Where have you been? We haven’t seen you in weeks!”

Before she could answer, Wynne asked, “What do you mean, ‘he’s the only one who can save her’?”

“I have been with Avernus in his tower. As it turns out ‘twas a good thing, because succinctly put, I found the catalyst too late. His potion is killing her.”

 

Numb with shock and cold, I trudged slowly back to the Gnawed Noble. I replayed the conversation I’d had with both Morrigan and Wynne in my head over and over. Before I had left them, she had tried to reassure me that Avernus was working on something to help cure me from his potion. But the bottom line was I was still dying.

 _How am I going to explain this to Alistair?_ I thought.

_Explain what to me, love? And where are you?_

I abruptly let go of my crystal. I hadn’t even realized I was holding it. I stopped and sat on a nearby tree stump. _Am I not going to have private thoughts anymore?_ When there was no response, I realized that holding the crystal must be what provided the link. To test it again, I held it within my fist again. _Alistair?_

_Love? You sound almost… scared. Where are you?_

_I am not too far from the Gnawed Noble. I’ll be up shortly._

_You don’t want me to come and get you?_

_No… I’ll be… all right._ Then I let go, breaking the connection. So, holding my crystal, he could hear me. Was he holding his own when he “spoke” back? So many new and unanswered questions. But the biggest question I had was… _why now?_

 

I slowly opened the door to our room, Alistair quickly walking up and embracing me.

“Maker, love, you’re freezing! Come now. Sit by the fire. I’ll help to warm you.” He sat on the sofa in the sitting room and pulled me onto his lap.

Despite the fact that he was only wearing thin linen pants, he felt like a warm summer day. I sighed and felt myself melt into his embrace.

He just sat there and held me. I had no idea how much time had passed. I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew I felt his lips against my neck. As he kissed and nibbled, I shifted myself so that I was now straddling his lap; my robe bunched up around my waist.

Alistair pulled himself away from my neck and sat back on the sofa, holding onto my hips. I quickly undid my belt and placed it carefully to the floor. Then I pulled off my outer robe. Next, the inner robe came off, by slipping over my head. All the while I was undressing, Alistair kept his hands steady and just watched me, his eyes glowing more golden with each moment.

Now I sat on his lap clad in only my breast band, my leggings, and my boots. My arms were locked loosely around his neck. He moved ever so slightly, causing his arousal to brush up against me in the most delicious way. I stifled a moan. I saw him lick his lips, but he still made no further moves. Instead, he moved one hand from my hip and then placed it over his crystal. _This is what you did, love? Yes?_

I nodded and placed my hand over my own crystal. _Yes._

_This is… amazing! Did you have any idea they could do this?_

_No,_ I thought to him, _and I know I’ve touched it before. This is unexpected. Somehow, their abilities are changing, growing._

_Is this a bad thing? Our being able to communicate without talking? Seems innocent enough…_

_Some of the most sinister of magics can start off innocent…_ I touched his cheek, still keeping myself balanced on his lap. _Do I think there is something evil in our necklaces? No. But I think eventually we will need to speak with someone who is knowledgeable in the ways of all magics._

_The First Enchanter?_

I nodded. _I suppose I could send him a messenger bird…_

 _It will take awhile to get a response though, so… what should we do in the meantime then?_ A smirk spread across his face. _I mean, we **are** sitting here… half naked._

 _Yes,_ I smiled back. _Indeed, we are._ I gently moved against him and heard him groan.

_We **really** need to get the rest of these clothes off… but you feel so delicious the way you are sitting on me…_

_Hrmm, it may feel good now… but how much **better** will it feel with clothes off?_

He let go of his crystal and I slid off of his lap. “As always, you are right, my love. So go on and do what you need to do… because I want you… to…”

After getting off his lap, I’d turned around and put my left foot on the low table in front of us so I could start unfastening my boot. What I hadn’t realized was this put my ass pretty much in front of his face.

“You want me to what?” I started to ask, but then squealed in surprise as Ali grabbed me around my waist and quickly carried me to the bedroom.

“We’ll get the rest them off in here…” I heard him mumble.

 

I snuggled under the covers, close to my love. “You are crazy, you know that, right?”

“Not my fault your boots were going to be that difficult to remove!” Alistair replied with a laugh.

“Well, it was certainly _interesting_ doing it with my pants half on and my legs around your neck!”

He rained kisses on my face and neck. “How’s it that you're so… flexible?”

“Exercise. At the Tower, Irving knew that a life cooped up indoors was not healthy. So for my first few years there, the Templars would take us outside in the morning for exercise. We’d do stretches and stuff. But big brother Anders ended up kind of ruining that for us all… with his constant escape attempts.”

Alistair rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow so he see me better. “You had a brother there? At the Tower? Why didn’t we see him when we were- ”

I put my finger on his lips. “He wasn’t my real brother. But he was like a brother to all of us children back then. Anders was twelve years my senior… and while he loved us and tried to watch over us back then, he **hated** the Circle, the Chantry, and all of their restrictions. He was always trying to escape. During one of our outdoor exercise routines, he jumped into Lake Calenhad and swam away. The Templars couldn’t go after him because of their plate armor. Unfortunately for him, he was caught three days later and brought back again. After that, there were no more outdoor exercise for us. We continued them indoors.” I sighed. “As for why we didn’t see him at the Tower while we were there, his last attempt to escape was finally successful. I haven’t seen him in years.”  **40**

“How old were you then?”

“I was thirteen. There is a part of me that wonders if he’s okay. Especially now… with the Blight.”

“I, ah… hate to phrase it in such a way, but how do you know he’s still… alive?”

“I don’t know if Anders is still alive but I’d like to think that he is. He was always very clever. Each escape attempt, he managed to stay away from the tower longer and longer.”

“You said you were thirteen when he made his final escape attempt?” Alistair asked.

“Pretty sure.”

“And now you’re nineteen?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Meaning that he’s been on the run for at least six years? I don’t know how a renegade mage would be able to avoid the templars for that long. Especially if they have his phylactery…”

“Anders is no danger to anybody, Alistair. He’s not maleficar. He just didn’t like being cooped up with all the rules in restrictions. He was a healer like Wynne and a damned good one too. So frankly, I’m not even sure why they would constantly want to be after him… particularly when good healers are in such high demand.”

If he is out there somewhere, still alive, it would be a miracle.”

I sighed deeply. “Can we perhaps move on and talk about something else, Ali? All this talk about my old friend has made me a bit melancholy.”

“I suppose here would be where I normally say something silly to cheer you up, love…” I started to smile, but the continued serious look on Alistair’s face made me realize he wasn’t quite done. “…but I need to know. What happened with your conversation with Wynne? You sounded really… worried about something, when I ‘heard’ you earlier.”

I knew I had to tell him what Morrigan had told me, but I was still not sure how to go about it. Instead, I lamely said, “Morrigan is back. She was at Soldier’s Peak, apparently.”

“Why?”

I fudged the truth. “She didn’t say… but I am sure she had her reasons.”

“No, love. Why are you avoiding my question? Even now, I can see something is bothering you. I’d hoped that having some fun, silly time together might help you to… relax… to confide in me. Would you please tell me what is wrong?”

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Wynne… was worried that I was starting to dabble in… blood magic.”

“Because you used that Templar’s blood as a tracking agent?”

“Yes.”

“And… Maker I hate to say this, but… was it?”

“No!” Tears welled up in my eyes. “You’re… doubting me too?”

“No, love, I don’t! I believe you!” He gently kissed my tears away. “But, I can see how one might possibly misinterpret that. Why did you use his blood? Was there anything else you could have used?”

It took me a moment to calm down, but then I answered, “Yes. But in this case, it was because that is what they took from him. It was the easiest thing to use… and I wanted to find them as soon as possible.”

“We are going back tomorrow. We’ll find out what they are up to.” He hugged me as tightly as he could while propped up on one arm. “Was that all that upset you?”

I nodded and then turned away from him so my face couldn’t betray my inner emotions. I gave a huge yawn. “We should get some sleep. I want to be at my best strength when we deal with those blood mages in the morning.”

I wasn’t entirely sure if Alistair believed me just then since it took him a moment before I heard him in my mind. _All right, love. Just know that I will always be there for you… if you need me._ He pulled me close against his warm body and kissed my neck. “Goodnight, Kylara.”

In the morning, we grabbed a quick bite to eat. Then after getting Winston from the kennels, Alistair and I headed to the rooming house. Outside waiting, was Wynne, Leliana, and Oghren. I was a bit surprised Morrigan was not there to help, but at the same time, glad. I was worried of the possibility that she might tell Alistair what was going on with me… and I was still not ready to explain it all just yet.

Before we headed back to the abandoned building, I stopped by the Market Square and told Sergeant Kylon of what we’d found after the alley clean-up. He paled and said he’d get his men to retrieve the Templar’s body.

“Please, let’s keep this on the down-low,” he whispered to me. “Last thing I need is panic in the city! If the populace were to find out blood mages are preying on people here…”

“You have our word. We will find them all and take care of them.”

“Thank you, Wardens. Maker protect you on this mission.”

 

One last stop by the alley, this time to let Winston’s nose do the detective work.

“I though’ you already knew where these mages went,” Oghren muttered.

“We do,” I patiently explained. “I’m letting him get the scent of the people involved… though I am sure there will be more in the building, this at least will give Winston a general idea.

Oghren gave a grunt. “Whatever, Warden. Let’s jus’ get goin’.”

Winston sniffed around for another moment, then with a low growl, set off in the direction of the warehouse.

When we got there, there was no one out front, but Leli told us to wait where we were. She disappeared into stealth and made her way to the building. Several minutes passed. She finally reappeared in front of us.

“All is quiet there at the moment. The front door is unlocked too.”

“Not so sure if that is good or bad news,” I muttered as we slowly made our way to the building’s front door. “It could mean they are lying in wait for us… or someone got sloppy. But my sovereigns are on the first.”

I slowly opened the front door. It moved on silent hinges (thank the Maker!). Inside the large front room was surprisingly clean. Floors were swept, there were bookshelves lined with all sorts of books and parchments. Fires were cheerfully burning in the two fireplaces in the room, and there were beds in the corner, neatly made.

“There is no one here?” Alistair asked in disbelief. “Are we too late?”

“Are you sure this is the right place, Kylara?” Wynne questioned.

“The trail led here! This must be the place!” I let out a frustrated breath. Just then I noticed Winston’s hackles were raised and he was growling low. I decided to do the only thing we could now. “Winston, find!”

Nose to the floor, my mabari sniffed all over the room. At first, he just kept moving in circles and whining every so often.

“Think your dog’s nose is broken,” Oghren chuckled.

“No,” I replied. “It simply means all the people he smelled in the alleyway have been here at some point. Give him a moment.”

Just then, Winston picked up another scent and quickly moved to the back of the room. We carefully followed. He stopped in front of a large bookshelf and continued growling.

“So your dog hates books?” Oghren laughed. “I don’t like ‘em neither… too many words an’ not enough pictures!”

“Perhaps there is something different about this bookcase?” Alistair suggested. “It _does_ look just a bit off… from the others in the room. If that makes sense?”

I stepped back and closed my eyes. After a moment, I reopened them. My eyes searched carefully around the room. Once back at the bookshelf in front of me, I noticed it too and nodded. “There is something different. Let me see…” I gently touched it and to our surprise, it slid easily to the side. There was a small hidden door behind the shelves. “Clever and sneaky!” I muttered as I opened the door.

It lead down a flight of stairs. “Please be careful, everyone,” Alistair whispered. “We don’t know how many people might be down there.”

“There are some traps at the bottom of the stairs,” Leli whispered to me. “Let me disarm them.” She vanished into stealth and then a moment later reappeared. “There are five men down there. Looks like one mage, two archers and two warriors.”

“Only five?”

“There was another door beyond them.”

I nodded. “Oghren? You and Alistair take care of the warriors, Winston and Leli can take the archers. I’ll deal with the mage. Wynne, you take care of us all.”

We moved down the stairs and put our plan into action. Working together as a cohesive unit, we were able to defeat all five quickly. The mage had a key on him that unlocked the door behind him.

As quietly as we could, since Oghren’s plate armor made noise no matter how softly he tried to move, we moved down the new hallway. Another door was at the end, which the key also unlocked. Beyond was a small storeroom. There were some healing potions and some elfroot in one of the open boxes. I took them and stuffed them in my belt pouch.

I was just thinking to myself that it was awfully quiet since the room with the first group of enemies, but the minute we opened the new door, four armed and angry mercenaries immediately swarmed in.

We began attacking back, which caused one of the archers in this group to back up, and run deeper into the room. I saw him step over something carefully as he ran. _Tripwire!_ Before I could let Leliana know about it, Oghren (who had gone after our running archer) stepped on it. A blast of fire knocked him back.

“Sod it all, stone-cursed dusters!” he bellowed as quickly extinguished a small flame burning part of his mustache. “You’ll pay for that!!”

More mercenaries and rogues started coming around the corner. “Oghren, down!” I shouted. He did and I cast a large freezing spell, which halted several of the enemies in their tracks.

“Good one there, Warden!” he smirked at me. He then picked up his warhammer and began smashing frozen baddies.

Around the corner was a large dining area. By the size of it, this building must house a lot more than the few I saw in my vision of the Templar’s torture.

Two more archers were in the back of the dining area. Winston and Alistair both ran up to intercept them. I quickly touched my crystal. _Careful, Ali!_

After the archers were dead, he turned and smiled at me. Touching his own crystal, he quickly thought back to me, _Always, love._ Then he headed around the tables to a short flight of stairs. I ran around the other side of them to meet up with him.

Just then a firebolt whizzed over my head and exploded behind me, setting the wall on fire. _Mage! Top of stairs!_ I thought to him, then turned to quickly extinguish the blaze on the wall.

He ran up the short flight of stairs and instantly smote the mage, draining his mana. I shuddered at the memory of him doing that to me, but I couldn’t let that stop us. I ran up to join my love as he finished the mage off.

He didn’t even have to use his crystal when he saw my face. “You alright? I know that I- ”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s in the past. It will take time for me, but you will need to use that ability here. Don’t let me stop you.”

“Understood.” He gave me a quick kiss as the rest of our group caught up to us.

“Everyone all right?” Wynne asked. “No injuries to heal?”

“We’re good,” I said. Leli and Oghren both nodded, and Winston gave a short bark. “Let’s move on then.”

The next area had doors on the right, left and in front of us. I groaned. _No telling how many enemies are in each room._ The door on the right was open, so I gestured that we should investigate. Leli went into stealth, peaked in, then came back to us.

“Five again,” she whispered. “Two mages, and three warriors. The rest of the room is… a mess.”

“A mess?”

“You’ll understand when you see it,” she muttered.

Leli, Winston, Alistair, and I made our way towards the room. I had Oghren staying back for the moment, so the noise of his armor didn’t alert the people inside. “Just be ready to rush in,” I told him. He grunted in response.

Again, working together, we were able to defeat everyone in the room… and without alerting anyone who might be in the other rooms. Leli had been right. The area was a mess. Bloody bodies lay strewn across the floor and an altar ran red with the viscous stuff. Behind the altar was a demonic visage.

“This is horrifying!” Wynne shook her head sadly. “Let’s get out of here, please”

“I doubt we’ve seen the worst,” Alistair said with a grimace.

We headed back to the room that had originally been on our left. Opening it thankfully revealed no enemies. Just a storeroom. Moving on, Leli noticed a pressure plate trap under a threadbare rug. She cautioned us to stay back as she went about disabling it.

Once done, we headed for the room directly in front of us. Inside we ended up surprising two sleepy rogues. They were down before they could alert anyone else. The room they had been in was a large bedroom with about ten bunks. Nothing else of interest was there for us, so we moved on.

A door on the left (as we came out of the bedroom) took us into another zigzagging hallway.

“The bad guys do so love their twisting architecture…” I muttered sarcastically. **41**

This continued on for some time. Leli disabled more traps and we continued working our way through this huge structure taking down many more rogues, warriors, and blood mages. There were even a few mabari that Winston ended up fighting.

As we moved deeper and deeper into this subterranean blood mage nightmare, the enemies were also getting more numerous and more clever. Wynne’s healing abilities were stretched thin. Thankfully, I had packed some lyrium potions.

After fighting a particularly large group, we stopped to rest for a moment. Suddenly, Oghren appeared in front of Alistair and me with some large mugs in his hands.

“Hey! Thought I’d pass around some refreshments! Drink up!” He handed a mug to each of us. Then passed one to Leliana and Wynne. Then he put one last one down on the ground. “C’mere boy,” he said to Winston. “I’m sure yer thirsty too!”

“Where did you get this?” Wynne eyed the drink with suspicion.

“Big old keg in the back of the room here,” Oghren stated. “You think bad guys don’ take breaks? I mean c’mon! Look at this room!”

It was rather nicely decorated (despite the mess we’d just created in killing the opposition), comfy chairs and tables surrounded what did appear to be a miniature pub of sorts. While there was a part of me that said we shouldn’t be drinking **anything** from a blood mage’s lair… I was thirsty. I sniffed the contents of the mug I’d been handed. _Smells… like spices and chocolate._ I took a small sip.

The liquid was cool, refreshing, and tasted delicious! I could see Alistair downing his own mug. Leliana too. Wynne still seemed to hesitate the most, but then even she gave in and ended up drinking. I finished mine as well. Winston whined and pushed the mug on the floor with his paw, tipping it over. _Well,_ I thought as I stifled a small burp, _guess mabari don’t like beer._

Once everyone had finished, we put the empty mugs on a nearby table. Oghren let out a large belch.

“Ahh! Reminds me of the best stuff Tapsters had!”

“Really?” Leliana glanced at Oghren with curiosity. “I tasted citrus and floral notes. Reminded me of a lightly fermented beverage Lady Cecile used to serve her guests at brunch in her home in Val Royeaux.”

“Odd. It made me remember a crisp ale that the Tranquil used to brew back at the Circle Tower,” Wynne said.

“I thought it tasted like the beer we had back at the pub in Rainesfere.” Alistair then looked at me. “What about you, love?”

“Chocolate and spices, like a rich stout,” I replied. “We all had the same drink… How is it that it tasted different to each of us?”

“Sod it, who cares?! It was good, wasn’t it?” Oghren belched again, then picked up his warhammer. “Let’s get goin’! We got more badduns to kill, yeah?”

“Uh… yeah.” As I took my staff and started heading towards the door in front of us, I covered my mouth to muffle another burp. I could also see that Alistair, Leli, and Wynne were also doing the same. _Funny, I don’t remember other beers or ales making me want to burp so much…_

The next room was empty, save for a lavish bedroom on the right. So we kept moving forward. For some odd reason, I felt as though my movements were getting a bit sluggish.

I touched my crystal. _Ali? Are you feeling okay?_

A few seconds passed before he responded. _Not really. I feel a bit… odd. Not tired, but not quite myself either._

_We need to keep it together! Something is telling me the head blood mage is up ahead._

Winston padded ahead of the rest of us and stopped at the door. He began growling, deep and menacing.

“Outta the way, dog,” Oghren muttered, then kicked the door in.

We all moved into the room. There were two big mercenaries, one on either side of us, and two mages. The mage in the black I recognized. The other hooded mage, wearing a brown robe, moved into the back corner of the room.

“That’s him!” I pointed to the black hooded mage in the room. “He’s the one who killed the Templar!”

But when I glanced at my friends I realized we were in serious trouble. Wynne and Leli had already collapsed onto the floor, Alistair was on his knees, trying to keep himself propped up with his sword. Even Oghren was staggering. Winston whined at us and then turned to the mage. With a growl, he began to charge, but then the mage cast a spell the flung my mabari against the wall. Winston fell and didn’t move.

“Winston!” I cried out.

“Well, well, well… what have we here,” the black hooded mage said silkily. “I honestly expected to get the dwarf with my little trap there… but to get **all** of you?” He pulled his hood down and stared at me. “As a mage yourself, little girl, you should definitely have known better.” To the mercenary closest to me, he said, “Bring her.”

The merc grabbed me. I tried to fight back, but I was weakening with every second.

“Ky-Kylara!” I heard Alistair call out before he collapsed to the floor.

“Hmm, Kylara, is it? Pretty name… for a Grey Warden.”

“How’d you know I was a Warden?” I slurred out.

“To be sure, I didn’t… until you confirmed it.” He gave me an oily smile. “I have a vested interest in blood… but I’m sure you’ve already figured that out by now. I am particularly interested in your blood and how it allows you to do what you can do.”

“Why me?”

He shrugged. “Didn’t necessarily _have_ to be yours… I could just have easily taken your fellow warden’s over there,” he said, pointing at Alistair’s prone form. “But I _do_ so love delicious female screams. It’s music to my ears.” As he pulled out the wickedly sharp dagger I’d seen in my vision, the merc maneuvered my arms until they were in front of me. “There is an art to it you know,” the blood mage purred as he held the dagger. “The stronger the blood, the stronger the demons I can summon… Oh, and don’t worry about bleeding out before I am done. My dagger is enchanted to keep it all there until I am ready for it.” He began to carve.

I screamed.

Unlike the Templar, who he had sliced quickly, the blood mage took his time, making the cuts on my palms as slow and painful as possible.

Through the haze of pain, I suddenly felt a presence. _Fight him, child! You have the ability now!_

 _Avernus?_ I thought weakly, _How?_

_You are connected to me because of my potion. Your blood can be a weapon now! Use it against him! Fight back!_

_Not… blood magic?_

_No. Warden magic._

The blood mage had finally stopped his sadistic cutting. He slid the dagger into his belt. “Now let’s see this glorious Grey Warden blood…” He muttered his spell.

Nothing happened.

Confused, he looked at my palms. “My cuts are deep enough… so where is it?” He glared at me. “How are you doing this?!”

I slowly managed to raise my head and looked him in the eyes. Whatever he saw made him shake in fear. The mercenary holding me let go as power began to crackle around my body. I was now floating a few centimeters off the ground. Both mercs now fled the room in terror. The blood mage, however, couldn’t move.

“You want my blood so badly?” I growled out. “Then choke on it… greim fhuilteach!” <bloody grip!>

Blood now flowed from my palms, but at my command, not at his. It went into his shocked, open mouth. A moment later, he was clutching his throat as his face began to turn purple. Another moment and then both of us fell to the ground. Me, from sheer exhaustion, him, because he was dead. Then I passed out. **42**

 

I woke up being held gently. There was a hand on my forehead and I could feel the tingling flow of healing magic.

“Wha? Where am I?” I moaned.

“Easy does it,” a soft male voice spoke. “That was some pretty potent magic you cast. It’s left you quite weak.” Though a hood covered most of his face, a gentle smile beamed at me. “Look how you’ve grown. I always knew you’d become a powerful mage, Ky.”

A memory came back to me from long ago. There had been only one person ever who called me ‘Ky’.

“Anders?” I just barely managed to whisper.

He placed a finger to his lips. “Shh. Sleep now.”

It was the last thing I heard.

 

I woke to a big sloppy tongue licking me.

“Ugh, Winston. I’m awake now.” I sat up slowly, then I realized he was fine. As he sat down obediently, I threw my arms around his big head. “Oh, Winston! You are all healed! Last I remember was the head blood mage making you slam into the wall!”

Alistair came up to me and gently pulled me to my feet. He hugged me tightly. “We were all healed. Whatever was in that stuff we drank was poisoning us all.” I then felt him shudder. “I… I couldn’t help you, protect you! I heard you screaming… and there was nothing I could do to help!”

Leli came up with Wynne. “None of us could help her, Alistair. Don’t blame yourself for this. We all fell for the trap.”

Wynne frowned as she stared in Oghren’s direction. “Well, if someone hadn’t passed around a mysterious beverage he’d randomly- ”

I put my hand on her arm and shook my head. “Wynne, no one is to blame here but ourselves. Oghren merely handed us the drink. None of us **had** to drink the contents… but we did. There was a spell on it that compelled us to do so. That’s why it tasted different for each of us.”

Wynne sighed. “You’re right, Kylara.” She glanced over at Oghren again, who did look a bit remorseful. “Oghren, I apologize.”

“Yeah… stupid mages trickin’ ol’ Oghren with poisoned brew.” He spat on the ground. “Why if’n that bastard weren’t already dead, I’d be shovin’ my warhammer up his arse!”

“How was he killed?” Alistair asked as he looked at me.

I tried to think back, but nothing came to my mind. “I… I don’t remember.” I glanced at my palms. I remembered being cut, but there was no scarring – they looked completely normal. “I just remember pain… and I guess I must have blacked out. The last thing I remember was being healed by a mage wearing a hood. All I could tell you was that it was a man.”

“That mage healed us all,” Wynne said. “I don’t know who he was either, but he saved all of our lives.”

“Including Winston’s,” I murmured as I scratched behind his ears. “That horrible blood mage had slammed him into a wall. He wasn’t moving.”

“Well, whatever happened, it is over now,” Leliana said, glancing at the body of the blood mage. “We should get back and get some rest. Tomorrow we can report this to the Chantry, or to this Sergeant Kylon.”

“Yes, I agree.” I sighed. “For now, let’s just get out of here.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 38 I plan on writing a short eventually that will cover what really happened on Isabela’s ship… and it will most definitely be NSFW! Stay tuned for more!
> 
> 39 The original line here was, of course, “wet frocks…”, but as I already used that line back in Chapter 14, I decided to change it up just a bit! 
> 
> 40 Canon has Anders at the Circle Tower until just before the events of the Origins sequel, Awakenings (around 9:31 Dragon)... but to me, this didn't really make much sense, since they mention his escape attempts so often (and he isn't there when you go to save the Tower from Uldred). So I decided to have Anders escape successfully... for reasons that will come later! Promise! 
> 
> 41 A comment that pretty much sums up any dungeon in any video game! Lol!
> 
> 42 For friends and family, the experience Kylara has with the blood mage doesn't really happen in-game... just dramatic license. In-game, it is just a normal boss fight. Also, had to change the spell from "bloody grasp" to "bloody grip" so it would translate properly from Gaelic.


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